
Class _.. 

Book 3L 



r 



Copyright N°. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 



A TREATISE 



ON 



Feeding and Nursing 
the Bqiby 



► 



FOR MOTHERS Atfp NURSES 



BY 

CHARLES DOUGLAS, M. D. 



Professor of Children's Diseases and Clinical Medicine in the Detroit College 

of Medicine, Consulting Physician to Harper Hospital, Senior Physician 

to the Protestant Orphan Asylum, Member of the American 

Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical 

Society, and the Detroit Medical Society. 



With Fifty-five Illustrations, Twenty Halftones, 
and Four Colored Plates. 



BABY BOOK COMPANY, Publishers 

Detroit, Mich. 

1901 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

MAR. 1 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS <^XXc. Nor. 

COPY B. 



«- 



'S 



o 



£0 



^ 



-9 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1901 

BY CHARLES DOUGLAS, M. D., 

of Detroit, Mich., 

In the office of the librarian of Congress at Washington, D. d 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



i i 



HAMMOND PRESS 
CONKEY COMPANY; CHICAGO 



TO 

THE MANY 

. MOTHERS AXD NURSES 

WHO HAVE WORKED AND WORRIED WITH ME DURING THE 
LAST THIRTY-SIX YEARS 

^Tfxis uolume is inscribed 

IN PARTIAL RECOGNITION OF THEIR FAITHFULNESS 

IN CARRYING OUT MY DIRECTIONS; 

AND ALSO 

IN GRATITUDE TO THEM FOR THE MANY FACTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

THEY HAVE, DURING ALL THESE YEARS, GIVEN TO THE 

AUTHOR. 

IT WAS ONLY THROUGH SUCH COMBINED 

LABOR THAT THIS VOLUME HAS 

BEEN MADE POSSIBLE. 



Twentieth Century Medical 
Progress. 



"Let us hope, Doctor, that this Twentieth Cen- 
tury will be a children's century / and that in it 
there will be as great progress in children as there 
was in women during the last one. May there be 
the wonderful advancement in feeding, developing, 
and raising strong, healthy, vigorous boys and 
girls, that was shown in women physically, socially, 
and commercially, thus elevating them in their 
brothers' eyes to a wider and more equal sphere." 

Such was the outpouring of a sorely tried and grateful 
mother, on the morning of January 2, 1901, as I left her home 
after my last visit to her little convalescent son. His life had been 
nearly sacrificed to the luxuries of the Christmas table during the 
previous week. 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. The Pregnant Woman. page. 

The Pregnant Woman 5 

Signs of Pregnancy 12 

Necessary Articles for Confinement 14 

The Confinement 15 

The Appearance of the Newly-born Baby 18 

The Head of the Baby 19 

Nursery Armamentaria 22 

Sore Nipple Protectors 27 

Chapter IT. The Mother. 

The Young Mother 29 

Irritating the Nipples 33 

Enlarging the Nipples of Primipara 34 

Nursing Mother's Diet 35 

Avoid Increasing the Milk at First 36 

Irregular Nursing 37 

Empty the Breasts during Sickness 37 

The Overworked Mother 38 

Women Who Should not Nurse 39 

Mothers under Medicinal Treatment 40 

Mental Condition of the Mother 41 

Poor Health in the Mother 41 

Poisonous Milk from Mental Disturbance 42 

The Apprehensive Mother 43 

Perfect Digestion Required in the Mother 44 

Food Indulgence 45 

Mother's Food after the First Month 46 

Foods that Increase the Milk Secretion 46 

Judicious Regularity in Feeding the Baby - 47 

Proper Intervals between Nursings 48 

. Exercise of the Mother 49 

Wet Nurses 50 

Requisites for Producing Good Human Milk 51 

Proper Time to Wean the Baby 51 

v 



PAGE. 



vi CONTENTS. 

Chapter III. Human Milk. 

First Food of the Infant . . 53 

First Milk ; Colostrum Milk ". 55 

Healthy Human Milk 56 

Unhealthy Human Milk 57 

May Need Weaning 59 

Indigestion in the Child 59 

Mother's Milk Injures the Infant 60 

Food Should be Changed 61 

Chapter IV. Cow's Milk. 

Cow's Milk 64 

Making Perfect Cow's Milk 67 

Jersey Cow's Milk 67 

How to Buy Milk for the Baby 68 

Requisites for Producing Healthy Cow's Milk 69 

Tubercle in Milk 71 

Bacteria in Milk 71 

Sterilizing Milk 71 

Pasteurizing Milk 72 

Sterilization vs. Pasteurization 74 

Is Sterilizing or Pasteurizing Beneficial? 75 

Unfavorable Results from Cooking Milk e . 76 

Condensed Milk 77 

Chapter V. The Elements in Milk and Preparation 
of Milk Foods. 

Constituents of Milk 79 

Raw Milk 80 

Mother's Milk vs. Cow's Milk 83 

Life in the Milk 84 

Home Humanization of Milk 86 

Cream 87 

Proteids : 89 

Proteids in Cream 90 

Milk Sugar .... 91 

Mineral Salts 92 

Water in Milk 92 

Overfeeding of Casein 93 

Mixing the Infant's Food 95 

Ingredients Needed for Correct Food 96 

Table showing the strengths of Cream and Milk Mixtures. 104 
Predigestion 105 



CONTENTS. vii 

Chapter V — Continued. page. 

Substitutes for Milk in Tender Stomachs 106 

Whey as a Food 107 

Bottles and Nipples 108 

Chapter VI. Foods. 

Materials Needed for Correct Feeding in the First Year. . 109 

For Feeding to Assist Nursing 110 

Make Only One Change Every Two Days or More Ill 

What is Pure Milk? Ill 

Can Pure Milk be Made in the City? 112 

Order of Precedence in Infants' Foods 112 

Amount of Food 113 

Dilute Food 115 

Proteid Milks and Foods 116 

Easily Digested but Unsuccessful Food 118 

Home-Made Foods 118 

Amount of Food Prepared Each Time 121 

Temperatures of Food 121 

Cooking of Foods 121 

Starch Waters— Rice, Oat, and Barley 122 

Gluten p 123 

Meat Juices and Broths 124 

Proprietary Meat Juices 128 

Scraped Meat '. 128 

Foods after Weaning 129 

Foods— Their Uses in Infancy 131 

Composition of Foods 141 

Proprietary Foods 144 

Proprietary Foods and Sugar 146 

Dietary of the Weaned Infant 147 

Nitrogenous Foods 148 

Suitability of Nitrogenous Foods 148 

Young Meat vs. Old Meat 149 

Dread of a Meat Diet 150 

Starchy Foods , 151 

Selecting the Most Suitable Starch Diet 152 

Fruits , 153 

Suitable Foods for the Nursing Mother. 154 

• Foods for Delicate, Weak Children 155 

Chapter VII. Feeding. 

What Must I Feed My Baby? 161 

Rules for Artificial Feeding 162 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter VII — Continued. page. 

Size of the Stomach 163 

Rapid Feeding i 167 

Hand Feeding . 167 

Measuring Foods 169 

Nursing and Feeding as Commonly Done 171 

Nursing and Feeding Together 172 

How to Select the Dietary of an Infant 174 

How to Obtain Yellow Stools in Infants 175 

General Rules in Dieting Healthy Infants during the 

First Year 195 

Feeding Schedule 197 

Errors in Frequency of Feeding 198 

Changes in Dietary 199 

The Overfed Nursing Baby 200 

Overfeeding Causes Disturbed Sleep 201 

How to Detect an Overfed Child ; 201 

How to Reduce a Child's Food 204 

Food in the Stools 205 

Reduce the Food in Sickness 206 

Summer Rules in Dieting 207 

Feeding Children of Wealthy Parents 207 

Varieties in Foods , \ 208 

Difficulties in Hand Feeding 210 

Necessities which Must be Observed in Hand Feeding. . . 210 

Coated Tongue and Foul Breath 211 

Ingrained Habits and Thoughts 212 

Comparative Development of Nursed and Hand Fed 213 

Large Abdomens from Poor or Unsuitable Food 214 

Specimens of Difficult Feeding 216 

Diseases Caused by Improper Feeding 222 

Infant Prescribing 223 

Information Needed in Dieting an Infant 224 

Doctor's Bills 229 

Chapter VIII. Development of the Baby. 

Infantile Immaturity 232 

Elements of Nutrition 235 

Normal Development 238 

Duties of Different Digestive Organs 242 

Order of Teething . 245 

The Permanent Teeth 247 

The Nursing Baby 248- 

Teething: Its Constitutional Effects 250 



CONTENTS. ix 

Chapter VIII— Continued. page. 

Duties of the Kidneys 252 

Urine 254 

Commencement of the Infant's Sickness 255 

Chapter IX. Care of the Baby. 

Infants under One Year Old 257 

Weigh the Baby Regularly 259 

Weaning the Baby 259 

Sudden Weaning 263 

Right Time to Wean 263 

Weaning during Sickness , 264 

Requisites for Successful Weaning 264 

Cross or Colicky Babies 265 

Damaged Infants 268 

Age of the Baby 269 

Nursing a Sick Mother 270 

Teaching an Infant to Nurse the Breast Again 275 

Unthrifty Children; Marasmus 276 

Bad Smelling Babies 277 

Bathing the Infant 278 

Temperature of the Bath 280 

Fear of the Bath 281 

Testing the Water 281 

Hot Baths vs. Cold Baths 282 

The Bath in Sickness 282 

Different Kinds of Baths 284 

Cold Applications 284 

Rubbing in the Cold Bath 286 

The Bed Bath 287 

The Ice Bath 287 

The Cold Pack 288 

The Steam Bath 289 

The Douche or Spray Bath 289 

Mustard Bath 290 

Medicated Baths : 290 

Plunge Bath 291 

Clothing the Child 291 

.Clothing Fibres 292 

Color of Clothing 293 

Amount of Clothes 293 

Night Clothes or Bed Clothing 298 

The Abdominal Bandage .299 

Beds and Covering 300 



x CONTENTS. 

Chapter IX— Continued. page. 

Regular Examinations of the Infant by the Physician. . . . 303 

$19.66 for the Best; $216.66 for the Worst 305 

Chapter X. Facts Concerning the Baby. 

Two Classes of Babies 310 

Large Size Does not Always Mean Success 311 

Infantile Facts. 311 

Giving Water to Sick Children 312 

Restrictions in Drinking Water 313 

Water Spoils the Taste for Milk 313 

Drinking Glass 314 

The Over- vigorous Father 314 

Traveling with Infants 315 

Reactionary Forces — Mother and Child 316 

Inheritances 317 

The Two Q's 319 

Subjects to be Avoided in the Sick Room 320 

Intelligence at Home — Physician and Parent 321 

Unhealthy Development 322 

Nursing too Long 323 

Dwarfs and Small Sized People 324 

Green, Foul Smelling Stools '. 325 

Slimy Stools; Mucous Stools 326 

The Cross, Uneasy Boy Baby .- . 327 

Infantile Literature (purely medical) 328 

Mothers Should Understand the Sickness 329 

Weights of Infants 330 

Do Not Spoil the Baby's Stomach 333 

Influence of Age on Sickness 334 

Chapter XI. Home Infantile Treatment. 

Selecting the Nursery 335 

Infantile Weights 338 

Mother's Judgment 338 

Physician's Visit : . . . '339 

General Watchfulness 341 

Cot Nursing vs. Lap Nursing 342 

Rest .343 

Sleep 344 

Common Sense Treatment ..... 345 

Elimination 349 

Continual Dosing 350 

Judicious Medication 352 



CONTEXTS. xi 

Chapter XI — Continued. page. 

Castor Oil 353 

. Enema 354 

Suppositories 355 

Medicated Enemas 356 

Medicated Suppositories 357 

Rectal Irrigations 357 

Digestive Assistants 358 

Anodynes 361 

Hot Applications 361 

Blisters 362 

Leeches 363 

Antitoxin 364 

Head Affections 365 

Eye Affections • 367 

Diseases of the Throat 368 

Lungs and Bronchial Tubes 369 

The Heart Diseases 372 

The Abdomen 374 

Heart Failure 375 

Chapter XII. Symptoms and Their Values. - 

Introductory 376 

Fever 376 

Pulse 377 

Respirations 377 

Delirium. . 377 

Headache 378 

Pain and Crying 378 

Vomiting 379 

Stools 379 

Constipation 379 

Xervousness and Trembling 380 

Wakefulness ' 380 

Frequent Urinating 380 

Absence of Urine 380 

Foul Breath 380 

Drooling 381 

Starting in Sleep 381 

Cough 381 

Perspiration 381 

Slow Teething 382 

Analysis of Unhealthy Stools 382 

{a) Foul Odor 382 



xii CONTENTS. 

Chapter XII— Continued. page. 

(d) Green Color 382 

(c) Watery Stool 383 

(d) Pasty and Colored ' 383 

(<?) Slimy 383 

(/) Bloody 384 

(g) Gray or Clay Colored 384 

(h) Loose, Fatty Stools of a Light Color 384 

( i) Dry, Hard Stools 385 

(J ) Lumpy Stools 385 

(k) Can Stools be Read with the Eye Alone? 386 

Recurring Sickness 386 

{a) Unhygienic Surroundings 386 

(6) Imperfect Nutrition 387 

Chapter XIII. Accidents and Emergencies. 

Cuts and Torn Wounds 389 

Dirty Wounds. . .. 390 

Poisoned Wounds 391 

Punctured Wounds 393 

Bruises 393 

Dislocations and Fractures 394 

Sprains .'. 395 

Snoring; Mouth Breathing 396 

Nose Bleeding 397 

Burns and Scalds 398 

Foreign Bodies in the Ear 400 

Foreign Bodies in the Nose 401 

Removing Foreign Bodies from the Eye 403 

Swallowing Foreign Bodies 404 

Drowning 405 

Concussion of the Brain 407 

Ivy Poisoning 408 

Poisons 409 

Table of Poisons — Antidotes and Treatment 412 

Convulsions, Spasms, Epilepsy 414 

Chapter XIV. Infectious Diseases. 

Infection and Contagion 417 

Infectious Diseases 417 

Table of Infectious Diseases 419 

Small-pox and Varioloid 419 

German Measles; Rotheln; Rubeola 420 

Chicken Pox; Varicella 421 



CONTENTS. xiii 

Chapter XIV— Continued. page. 

Vaccina; Cow Pox; Vaccination 422 

Mumps 423 

Whooping Cough 424 

Scarlet Fever; Scarlatina 426 

Measles 430 

Typhoid Fever 432 

Diphtheria 433 

Itch ; Scabies 435 

Ringworm 436 

Chapter XV, Digestive Disturbances. 

Sore Mouth; Stomatitis; Canker; Thrush 438 

The Stomach; Vomiting 439 

Vomiting in Nursing Children 442 

Vomiting Caused by Unhealthy Milk 443 

Habitual Vomiting in Hand-Fed Children 443 

Damaged Stomach 445 

Diarrhea . . 446 

Colic 451 

High Summer Mortality 454 

Auto-Intoxication 455 

Indigestion; Dyspepsia; Catarrh of the Stomach 456 

Constipation ; Its Causes 458 

Abuse of Laxatives 459 

(a) Cathartics Irritate the Bowel 461 

(b) Laxatives are Allowable 462 

Unsuitable Food Causes Constipation 464 

(a) Increase the Fats in Constipation 465 

(b) Cow's Milk is Constipating 466 

(c) Decrease the Casein 466 

(d) What Fats are Suitable 467 

(e) Animal Fats are Mostly Needed 467 

(/) Cream and Butter instead of Cod Liver Oil 467 

{g) Meats Fed after Weaning 468 

Indigestion Causes Constipation or Diarrhea 469 

(a) Unsuitable Food 469 

{b) Overfeeding 470 

(c) Results of Neglecting Dietetic Errors 470 

Imperfect Development of the Bowel 471 

Insufficient Food 472 

Constipation in Chronic Indigestion 473 

Temporary Treatment of Constipation 474 

Worms 476 

Toxemia 479 



xiv CONTENTS. 

Chapter XVI. Skin Diseases and Deformities. PA ge. 

Eczema 482 

Chilblains 485 

Frost-bite 486 

Warts 486 

Red Gum ; Strophulus 487 

Prickly Heat; Milliaria 488 

Stomach Rash; Tooth Rash 488 

Birth Marks; Mother's Marks; Moles. : . . 489 

Fever Blisters; Cold Sores 489 

Hives; Urticaria or Nettle Rash 490 

Chafing; Cracks ; Roughness 491 

Sunburn ; 492 

Freckles ... 492 

Wet and Excoriated Surfaces 493 

Sore Head; Milk Crust ; ,., 494 

Deformities 496 

Protruding Ears 498 

Deformed Hands and Feet 498 

Tongue Tie 499 

Chapter XVII. General Diseases and Derangements. * 

Premature Birth 500 

Meningitis; Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis; Spinal Meningitis, 501 

Tubercular Meningitis 502 

Paralysis; Poliomyelitis 503 

Diseased Bones; Hip Joint Disease; Spinal Disease 506 

Growing Pains 507 

Rheumatism 508 

Enlarged Glands 509 

Scrofula 510 

Fevers 511 

Inanition 513 

Malaria 514 

Malnutrition 516 

Marasmus 517 

Erysipelas 518 

Dropsy 519 

Retention of Urine; Painful Urination 520 

Bed Wetting 521 

Imperforate Bowel; Prolapse of the Bowel 523- 

Ulceration of the Navel • 525 

Bleeding from the Navel 525 



CONTENTS. xv 

Chapter XVII— Continued. page. 

Inflammation of the Breasts « 526 

Jaundice 526 

Scurvy; Scorbutus 527 

Rickets 528 

Leucorrhea 532 

Circumcision 533 

Sucking of the Finger 534 

Nervous Habits 534 

Holding the Breath 536 

Masturbation 537 

Boils; Furuncles 537 

Abscess 538 

Earache; Running Ears 539 

Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids 540 

Rupture 542 

Coryza ; Cold in the Head , 544 

Night Terrors 544 

Sleeplessness 545 

Headache 547 

Croup 548 

Catarrhal Croup 548 

Spasmodic Croup 549 

False Membrane Croup 549 

Bronchitis; Pneumonia; Pleurisy 550 

Styes 552 

Squint Eye; Strabismus 553 

Tubercle and Unhealthy Mucous Membrane 553 

Water on the Brain; Hydrocephalus 556 

Chapter XVIII. Remedies. 

dietary. 

No. 1. Cream and Milk Mixtures 559 

cereal or starch waters. 

No. 2. Oatmeal Starch Water . . 559 

No. 3. Oatmeal Jelly 559 

No. 4. Barley Starch Water 559 

No. 5. Rice Starch Water 559 

No. 6. Arrowroot Water 560 

No. 7. Toast Water 560 

ALBUMEN MIXTURES. 

No. 8. Albumen Water 560 

No. 9. Egg and Barley Water 560 



xvi CONTENTS. 

Chapter XVIII— Continued. 

GUM WATERS. PAGE . 

No. 10. Gum Arabic Water 561 

No. 11. Gelatin Water 561 

No. 12. Flaxseed Tea 561 

No. 13. Dr. Meig's Gelatin Food 561 

WHEY AND ITS MIXTURES. 

No. 14. Whey 561 

No. 15. Wine Whey 561 

No. 16. Whey and Cream 561 

FOODS FOR VERY DELICATE INFANTS. 

No. 17. Cream and Rice Mixture . . s . . . 562 

No. 18. Whey and Rice Mixture 563 

No. 19. Cream, Whey, and Rice Mixture 563 

No. 20. Flour Ball 563 

NITROGENOUS OR MEAT FOODS. 

No. 21. Veal Tea 563 

No. 22. Beef Tea 563 

No. 23. Twenty-Minute Beef Tea 564 

No. 24. Scraped Raw Meat 564 

No. 25. Beef Juice ..." 564 

No. 26. Substitute Foods for Tender Stomachs: 

No. 1. Whey 565 

No. 2. Beef Broth 565 

No. 3. Beef Juice, Expressed 566 

No. 4. Beef Juice, Cold Water Process .... 566 
No. 26^. Lime Water 566 

PEPTONIZED FOODS. 

No. 27. Peptonized Milk 567 

No. 28. Peptonized Milk Mixtures Sterilized 567 

No. 29. Peptogenic Milk Powder .-. . 567 

No. 30. Peptonized Beef Tea 567 

No. 31. Peptonized Oysters 568 

No. 32. Peptonized Gruel 568 

No. 33. Peptonized Milk Toast 568 

No. 34. Peptonized Milk Punch 568 

No. 35. Nutrient Enemata Peptonized 568 

No. 36. Peptonized Egg Enema 569 

REMEDIES FOR INTERNAL USE. 

No. 37. Soda Mjnt 569 

No. 38. Laxative Alkaline Mixture 569 



CONTENTS. xvii 

Chapter XVIII— Continued. page. 

No. 39. Chalk and Bismuth Mixture 569 

No. 40. Saline Aperient 569 

No. 41. Sore Mouth Powder 569 

No. 42. Foul or Sour Stomach Powders 570 

No. 43. Digestive Assistants 570 

No. 44. Slimy Stool Powders 570 

No. 45. Fever Mixture, No. 1 570 

No. 46. Fever Mixture, No. 2 570 

No. 47. Croup Mixture 571 

No. 48. Pink Powder for Colds 571 

No. 49. Cough and Cold Mixture * 571 

No. 50. Cough and Fever Powders 571 

No. 51. Jeaunel's General Poison Antidote 571 

No. 52. Emetics 571 

No. 53. Injection for Convulsions 572 

No. 54. Mixture to Prevent Convulsions 572 

No. 55. Sore Throat Gargle 572 

No. 56. Worm Powders 572 

No. 57. Injection for Seat Worms 572 

No. 58. For Bed Wetting 572 

No. 59. For Scalding or Painful Urine 573 

No. 60. Blood Tonic 573 

POULTICES AND PLASTERS. 

No. 61. Flaxseed Poultice 574 

No. 62. Slippery Elm Poultice 574 

No. 63. Mush Poultice 574 

No. 64. Bread and Milk Poultice 575 

No. 65. Bread and Water Poultice 575 

No. 66. Bran Poultice 575 

No. 67. Hop Poultice 575 

No. 68. Starch Poultice .575 

No. 69. Mustard Poultice 575 

No. 70. Charcoal Poultice 575 

No. 71. Jacket Poultice .576 

No. 72. Antiseptic Poultice 576 

No. 73. Cotton Poultice 576 

No. 74. Turpentine Stupes 577 

No. 75. Spice Poultice 577 

No. 76. Mustard Plaster 578 

No. 77. Pepper Plaster 579 

No. 78. Cotton Jacket 579 

No. 79. Ginger Poultice 579 



xviii CONTENTS. 

Chapter XVIII — Continued. 

OINTMENTS. PA'iE. 

No. 80. Zinc Ointment 580 

No. 81. Beeswax Ointment 580 

No. 82. Ringworm Ointment, No. 1 580 

No. 83. Ringworm Ointment, No. 2 580 

No. 84. Malaria Ointment 580 

No. 85. Pile Ointment 580 

No. 86. Boric Acid and Zinc Ointment 580 

SOLUTIONS AND MIXTURES. 

No. 87. Carbolized Oil 581 

No. 88. Boric Acid Nipple Lotion 581 

No. 89. Tannic Acid and Glycerine Nipple Lotion.... 581 

No. 90. Bismuth Nipple Ointment 581 

No. 91. Running Ear Lotion 581 

No. 92. For Enlarged Glands 582 

No. 93. Chilblain Mixtures 582 

No. 94. Boric Acid Antiseptic Wash 582 

No. 95. Carbolic Acid Lotion 582 

No. 95^. Saline Solution 582 

No. 96. Corrosive Sublimate Antiseptic Lotion 582 

No. 97. Mouth Wash 582 

No. 98. Eye Lotion : 583 

No. 99. Astringent Gargle 583 

No. 100. Pepper and Soda Gargle 583 

No. 101. Nose Bleed Lotion 583 

No. 102. Alum Lotion 583 

No. 103. Cooling Lotion .'. 583 

No. 104. Skin Lotion 583 

No. 105. Freckle Lotion, No. 1 583 

No. 106. Freckle Lotion, No. 2 584 

POWDERS. 

No. 107. Camphor Powder Compound 584 

No. 108, Boric Acid and Zinc Powder 584 

No. 109. Perspiring Powder 584 

No. 110. Bismuth and Zinc Powder 584 

DISINFECTANTS. 

No. 111. Carbolic Acid 584 

No. 112. Chloride of Lime 584 

No. 1 13. Copperas 585 

No. 114. Chlorinated Soda 585 

No. 115. Disinfectant Bath 585 



CONTENTS. xix 

Chapter XVII I— Continued. page 

No. 116. Corrosive Sublimate Solution 585 

No. 117. Disinfecting Vapor 585 

No. 118. Dry Disinfectants 585 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. 119. Massage 585 

No. 120. Different Measures and their Sizes : 586 

No. 121. Dose List for Children One Year Old or Twenty 

Pounds in Weight 588 

No. 122. Proportionate Dosage 590 

No. 123. Medicine Closet 591 



ILL USTRA TIONS. 



Figure 1. 
Figure 2. 
Figure 3. 
Figure 4. 
Figure 5. 
Figure 6. 
Figure 7. 
Figure 8. 
Figure 9. 
Figure 10. 
Figure 11. 
Figure 12. 
Figure 13. 
Figure 14. 
Figure 15. 
Figure 16. 
Figure 17. 
Figure 18. 
Figure 19. 
Figure 20. 
Figure 21. 
Figure 22. 
Figure 23. 
Figure 24, 
Figure 25. 
Figure 26. 
Figure 27. 
Figure 26, 

Figure 29. 

Figure 30. 
Figure 31. 

Figure 32. 
l 



PAGE. 

Fountain Syringe 8 

Bones of the Head 21 

Ear Syringe 22 

Ear Syringe (Hard Nozzle) 22 

Piston Syringe . . . 23 

Breast Pump 23 

Sponge Basin 23 

Foot Bath 24 

Bath Thermometer 25 

Sore Nipple Protectors 27 

Infant's Stomach 54 

Human Milk 56 

Colostrum Milk 58 

Arnold Sterilizer. 73 

Rickety Legs 78 

Milk Cells 84 

Cream and Siphon 88 

Milk Siphon 96 

Sugar Measure 9T 

Starch Cells 123 

Meat Press 125 

Dilated Stomach 164 

Healthy Stomach at Six Weeks 165 

Healthy Infant — Lying Down 216 

Healthy Infant— Sitting Up 216 

Healthy Girl— Lying Down 217 

Healthy Girl— Sitting Up 217 

Rickety Child, Twenty-two Months Old — Sitting Up, 

Large Abdomen 218 

Rickety Child, Twenty-two Months Old— Lying 

Down, Large Abdomen 219 

Overfed Infant— Nine Months Old, Large Abdomen, 219 
Overfed Infant — Nine Months Old, Lying Down, 

Large Abdomen 220 

Rickets — Lying Down, Distended Abdomen 220 

xxi 



xxii ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Figure 33. Rickets— Lying Down, Slack Abdomen 221 

Figure 34. Plump Baby — Lying Down 221 

Figure 35. Very Plump Baby — Lying Down 222 

Figure 36. Teething— Six to Eight Months 246 

Figure 37. Teething— Eight to Ten Months 246 

Figure 38. Teething — Twelve to Fourteen Months 246 

Figure 39. Teething — Eighteen to Twenty Months. 246 

Figure 40. Teething — Twenty-eight to Thirty-two Months 247 

Figure 41. Spring Scales and Baby 259 

Figure 42. Weight Chart 331 

Figure 43. Soap Stick 355 

Figure 44. Curved Hair Pin 401 

Figure 45. Syringe and Rubber Tube 402 

Figure 46. Everting the Lid 403 

Figure 47. Drowning — First Position . . . •. 406 

Figure 48. Second Position 406 

Figure 49. Poison Ivy Leaf 408 

Figure 50. House Creeper 409 

Figure 51. Poison Bottle 410 

Figure 52. Thread Worms 477 

Figure 53. Tapeworm 478 

Figure 54. Roundworm 478 

Figure 55. Curved Back 497 

Figure 56. Rickety Bowlegs 529 

Figure 57. A Case of Rickets : . 531 

Figure 58. Pad for Navel Rupture . 543 

Figure 59. Minim Graduate Measure 586 

Figure 60. Dropper for Medicines 587 

Figure 61. Grooved Cork, for Dropping Medicines Slowly 587 

Figure 62. Showing How to Drop Medicines 588 

Figure 63. Four Ounce Graduated measure 588 

Twelve Specimen Cases of Difficult Feeding 176 to 195 



PREFACE. 

^^HE object of this volume is to assist mothers and 
^^ nurses to realize the proper means, and also all of 
those means requisite to raise strong, well-de- 
veloped children. 

Coupled with this knowledge is the necessity also of 
using it at the proper time before the infants are dam- 
aged by errors in their dietary or management. 

As there are all varieties of babies, one of the main 
objects of the writer is to show in each, by their daily 
progress, that the resulting growth and development will 
be satisfactory. 

To many physicians who have not had the opportunity 
of seeing much infantile sickness, and consequently given 
little attention to this subject, it is hoped that this work 
will be an assistance. 

For medical students also, who have little experience 
in witnessing the trying results of the heated term on 
infantile life, it is thought the subjects herein discussed 
may lend some assistance in the early years of pro- 
fessional life. 

The rapid advances made in feeding and nursing in- 
fants during the past ten years, have established fixed 
and reliable principles for the guidance of nurses and 
parents, instead of the old inherited haphazard ideas 
which resulted too often in culls, or the survival of only 
the most vigorous. 

It has been the object of the author to follow in these 
pages such methods in presenting facts as continual 
contact with mothers for the last thirty-six years has 
been found a necessity. This has demanded a frequent 
repetition of the main facts in sickness and treatment, 
and also of how to secure the best results under the many 
different conditions present in feeding and nursing healthy 
and sickly infants. 

The short notes on these pages impressing the m am 

xxiii 



xxiv PREFACE. 

facts, coupled with frequent repetition in the text, will, it 
is hoped, be partially successful in simplifying the 
mother's and nurse's work. 

It has been deemed requisite to commence before birth, 
that the conditions for the proper nutrition of the infant 
may be as perfect as possible when it is born. 

Chapter I is thus given to Pregnancy, and Chapter II 
to the Mother. 

Chapters III, IV, V, VI and VII consider the differ- 
ent foods, their preparation, and the feeding of the infant. 

Chapters VIII, IX and X are devoted to the develop- 
ment and care of the baby, and also facts concerning it. 

Chapter XI is given to the general principles of home 
infantile nursing and treatment in mild sicknesses. 

Chapter XII is occupied in considering the prominent 
symptoms present in diseases, and their value when 
estimating the dangers of any sickness. 

The next five chapters aim to give the mother a short 
and concise idea of the most common infantile diseases, 
their important symptoms and general treatment till the 
physician is in charge. 

The last, Chapter XVIII, is devoted to the preparation 
of foods, to internal and external medicinal remedies, to 
poisons, doses, measuring, and also to the medicine closet. 

As it has been necessary for the author to use the works 
of leading medical writers for the last twenty years, in 
teaching these subjects to medical students and the nurses 
in the Farrand Training School, so has it been requisite to 
utilize the same material in the following pages, so far as 
needed for the mother's and nurse's benefit. As it would 
be impossible to give credit to each individual author, the 
writer wishes here to acknowledge his indebtedness to the 
works of American, British, German, and French physicians. 

For valuable advice in construction and for reviewing, 
he is especially grateful to Dr. Don. M. Campbell of 
Detroit, and also to his daughter, Kathleen J. Douglas. 
Only by their valuable assistance has this work been 
completed. 

Chas, Douglas, M. D. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Pregnant Woman. 

Pregnancy is the summit of the wife's hopes and joys. 
It is the realization of the female mind's most impressive 
probability. With some it is the commencement of nine 
months' continual sickness; with most it is heralded by 
nausea for a few weeks and followed by the best of diges- 
tion and good health for the balance of the term; while 
with a few it is welcomed as the healthiest and most 
comfortable part of their lives. 

The young woman naturally feels that this changed 
condition demands attention and respect. Her mind 
always turns to necessary changes in her duties and 
exercises. With some it also seems necessary to change 
their dietetic regimen and mental occupation. A little 
thought will show the reasoning mind that nature cannot 
demand any change from reasonable activity, dietary, or 
mental occupation, which are the foundation of good 
health for all mankind. If such change were demanded, 
it would say that healthy conditions for a woman this 
month may or will be unhealthy conditions for her next 
month : in other words, the pregnant woman is a different 
creature simply because she is pregnant, and therefore 
requires a different mode of life; or what makes healthy 
blood for the mature being makes unhealthy blood for 
the embryonic being. Such reasoning is evidently 
absurd and contrary to all the laws of nature. In the 

5 



6 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

thirty-six years the writer has attended women in the 
pregnant condition, he has only met an occasional woman 
whose mind was so warped and twisted by her education, 
reading absurd writings on this subject, or a desire to 
bring forth a superior being, that she would willingly 
impose upon herself a nine months' fast from necessary 
nourishment and also a wardrobe of sackcloth and ashes. 

A lady of good health consulted me recently for advice 
as to diet, conduct, exercise, etc., now that she was preg- 
nant. My advice to her was: "Do nothing; forget, if 
possible, that you are pregnant and continue your usual 
habits." Only the extreme things, mental, physical, and 
dietetic, are at war with the pregnant condition, therefore 
a pregnant woman should avoid the chances of such 
extremes. That means avoid the possibility of an acci- 
dent, a shock, or an indigestion which might result in a 
diarrhea. Most women pay no attention even to these 
possibilities, and few have to regret it. Even those who 
are most careful at times meet with trouble. 

During pregnancy many women endure unnecessary 
suffering and distress. They do this mainly because they 
have an exaggerated idea of the endurance needed at this 
time to bear unavoidable miseries. I find that this mis- 
taken idea does serious injury occasionally. Now, as at 
other times, a woman should not try to endure suffering. 
While she may be willing to suffer annoyances and petty 
disturbance, she should have these only for short periods, 
and the intervals between should be those of comfort and 
perfect relief. There are also features unavoidable, due 
to the changes of size as pregnancy progresses. These 
must be endured. 



PREGNANCY. 7 

Frequent Urination. 
This is one of the first changes noticeable in preg- 
nancy. This commences early, even in the first month 
often, and continues throughout the whole nine months. 
It is due to the pressure exercised on the bladder by the 
gravid uterus. Even in this unavoidable disturbance the 
mother should not be too patient. If urination is painful 
she should seek help from her physician. As it is always 
worse when standing, the recumbent position for a day or 
two generally relieves the painful symptoms. Alkaline or 
soda water drinks often assist materially in relieving this 
pain; so also do mucilaginous ones, such as flaxseed and 
slippery elm tea. 

Haemorrhoids or Piles. 

These commonly appear at this time also. They are 
due to pressure on the blood vessels, and remain usually, 
in varying severity, till labor relieves the pressure. 
These patients generally suffer a great deal right after 
labor from the swollen and tender condition of the piles, 
caused by the pressure to which they have been subject- 
ed during labor. Either hot or cold applications, which- 
ever are most soothing, should be applied while lying 
down to give relief during pregnancy. Only hot ones 
are admissible after labor. Particular attention should 
always be given to secure one soft stool every day, but 
not any more in these cases. Either constipation or too 
loose stools aggravates the soreness of piles. Were it 
not for the disagreeable gases produced by sulphur, there 
is no remedy which secures such comfortable stools in 
these cases. Some form of laxative (Remedies, No. 40) 
or mineral water should be taken regularly each morning, 
such as Hunyadi or Friedrichshall. Only enough to 



8 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

secure one stool daily must be the rule. Where piles 
project outward after stool, they should be oiled and 
returned at once by gentle pressure. If very painful an 
anodyne ointment (Remedies, No. 85) should be used to 
relieve the suffering when heat fails to make the parts 
comfortable. 

Neuralgia. 

Many mothers date the rapid decay of their teeth to 
the time of their first pregnancy. With this loss also 
comes most distracting neuralgia and frequently profuse 
flows of saliva or hot water from the mouth. Unfortun- 
ately these are not curable, but are generally relieved by 
hot applications to the face, and some stimulating wash, 
such as hot listerine or tincture of myrrh and water, 
equal parts, in the mouth. A dentist should be con- 
sulted early and all mild means used to check this rapid 
decay of the teeth. Women in this condition should not 
undertake any severe dental operations. 

Leucorrhea. 

Some women suffer from severe leucorrhea at this time. 
It may last only a few weeks, or it may continue for many 

months. Mild washes of 
boric acid, two teaspoonsful 
to the pint of warm water, 
should be used lying down 
once or twice daily for cleans- 
ing purposes and to avoid 
bad odors. This should be 
Figure i. Fountain Syringe. done with a fountain syringe 
( Figure 1 ) . The largest nozzle should be carefully inserted 
the full distance in the vagina, and a slow stream of a 




PREGNANCY. 9 

quart at least allowed to run through from a height of 
not more than three feet above the patient. 

Miscarriage. 
A woman who has miscarried once is likely to do it 
again about the same time. This occurs most commonly 
about the menstrual date in each month. At such time 
she should be very quiet physically, or even stay in bed 
till this uncertain time passes by. A woman who mis- 
carries twice in succession is likely to continue doing so 
every few months, thus undermining her health. Only a 
long rest of two or three years will enable that uterus to 
carry a child to full term. 

Syphilis. 

Women afflicted with this disease will conceive and 
miscarry regularly. The foetus dies of the poison at any 
age from two to nine months, and nature casts it out. 
When dead it is a foreign substance. After a few years 
the poison lessens in the mother's body, and she may 
then carry a foetus to the full term; medical treatment 
will help her condition. 

Stools. 

The pregnant woman should see that her bowels move 
regularly every day, or two days at most. Where costive 
she should aim at securing this result by a diet of Oat- 
meal and fruits and by exercise. Certainly, she should, 
if possible, avoid using cathartics, as these frequently 
cause miscarriage. Where it becomes a necessity to take 
a cathartic she should avoid aloes or aloin. Whatever 
medicine she selects it should be such a one as acts mildly 
and should be taken in three or four small doses, rather 
than in one large dose. Laxative salts (Remedies, No. 40) 
may be used with advantage. 



10 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Nausea. 
The nausea of pregnancy is not always amenable to 
medical treatment, but most cases are improved by a little 
medicine, such as essence of pepsin or soda mint tablets. 
Where severe and the patient loses flesh, she should take 
her breakfast in bed and then rest an hour before rising. 
If not relieved a physician should be consulted. This 
usually passes away in a few weeks. 

Quickening-. 
This is the first strange movement the mother recog- 
nizes, and she thinks it due to the child. It occurs 
usually at about four and a half months, and is ascribed 
to the child, or the necessary rising of the enlarged 
womb, out of the bones of the pelvis, to where there 
is greater room for its growth. 

Varicose Veins. 
Many women suffer from enlarged veins in one or both 
legs during pregnancy. These are the superficial veins, 
and they become very large and tortuous, often causing 
pain and aching when these women are long on their feet. 
This is always relieved by lying down. These veins show 
most frequently toward the end of pregnancy, but beyond 
their inconvenience are not important, as they seldom 
bleed. When very sore, elevating the limbs and band- 
aging them give the greatest relief. 

Edema. 
The most important and serious accompaniment during 
pregnancy is swelling of the feet and limbs, during 
the last month or two. This is due to water under the 
skin in the connective tissues, and is very common 
indeed, often preventing a woman from wearing any 



PREGNANCY. 11 

shoes. This swelling may be due to the pressure of the 
uterus on the veins, thus damming back the blood in the 
lowest parts; or it may be due to defective secretion of 
urine. This latter cause is the important one and the 
one requiring prompt attention. In all cases of swelling 
of the limbs the physician should be called at once, and 
a sample of the urine bottled for his examination. Reg- 
ular examination of the urine will be requisite every 
week or two afterwards to ascertain the condition of this 
secretion and that of the kidneys. This must never be 
omitted, as the mother's life is often in jeopardy, when 
she recognizes little sickness or inconvenience from this 
swelling. Inefficient kidney secretion is the most serious 
complication accompanying pregnancy. 

Puerperal or Child Bed Fever. 
This is due to the entrance of some poisonous infection 
into the blood through the genitals, either at the time of 
labor or shortly afterwards. This is very dangerous to 
the mother's life, but usually can be avoided through ab- 
solute cleanliness of all clothing and thorough disinfection 
of all attendants, particularly the hands of nurse and 
physician. All clothing and dressings around the mother 
should be fresh from the laundry; and all syringes and 
other instruments needed should be thoroughly scalded 
to give her the greatest protection possible. No nurse 
except a thoroughly trained, conscientious one is safe in 
such a situation, and no examinations of the patient 
should be made except by her physician, or her trained 
nurse in an emergency. The life of a woman is often sac- 
rificed by an old catheter, syringe, or a dirty septic dish, 
cloth, or hand. Herein lies the greatest danger of the 
old fashioned, uneducated nurse or midwife, as she does 



12 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

not know the dangers of sepsis and unconsciously often 
carries death to the mother by her unclean hands. 

Abdominal Growth. 

The pregnant woman should not be ashamed of her 
increasing size, and certainly should never tighten her 
clothes to hide it. She needs loose clothes always, to 
give room for the infant's growth, and to allow the per- 
forming of regular daily duties to give her that good 
digestion which secures strength of muscle and heart, thus 
preparing her for the strain of approaching labor. Those 
who are sedentary become soft of flesh and corresponding- 
ly weak, and too often fail when labor pains seize them. 
They then have to depend on instrumental aid too much. 
No woman has such a good labor as the active, busy, 
hustling one. 

Signs of Pregnancy. 

These are very important features in the early years of 
married life. The young wife, yes, and sometimes the 
old wife, is intensely interested in this subject. No day 
in the month is of half the importance to the wife, as the 
menstrual day. And why should it not be so? Its 
absence means an immense amount to her; more indeed 
than the young wife realizes in most instances. The one 
prominent thought in her mind is " pregnancy." So we 
find the first and most reliable evidence of pregnancy is 
absence of menstruation in a healthy woman. While this 
does not always apply, it is generally reliable. 

Absence of Menstruation. 

This may result from sickness, exposure to cold, or 
sudden checking of the last monthly flow, but the general 
poor health in such cases will contrast with the perfect 



PREGNANCY. 13 

health that should be present. Such cessation does not 
point to pregnancy. 

Occasionally women will be pregnant and yet men- 
struate from one to four months or more, regularly in 
time, but generally deficient in amount and duration. In 
these cases other symptoms usually indicate the true con- 
dition. 

Nausea or Morning Sickness. 

Hairs in the throat, and occasional vomiting without 
cause or previous sickness, are all different demonstra- 
tions of the same sympathetic disturbance in the digest- 
ive organs. Light menstruation with any or all of these 
symptoms is suspicious of pregnancy. Xo menstruation 
with these symptoms is very suspicious of pregnancy. 

Pain, Hardening-, and Enlargement of the Breasts 
make a woman even more suspicious of pregnancy, when 
added to delayed menstruation. 

Darkening of the Areola 
around the nipples, with a pufhness of the skin convinces 
the woman, if need be, that she is pregnant. 

Increased Size. 

If she persistently refuses to accept of the pregnant 
idea, as for instance when nursing an infant, surely en- 
largement of the abdomen, with the crossness, restlessness, 
occasional vomiting and green stools of the hitherto good 
infant will at last convince her that it must be so. no 
matter how unwelcome the thought may be, or whether 
she has menstruated since baby was born. 

Darkening areola shows in the second month; abdom- 
inal enlargement in the third or fourth month; hardening 1 
and soreness of the breasts in the second month : vomiting 



14 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

commonly shows in the second month; but occasional 
nausea may show even in the first month. 

Irritability of Temper. 
A general disposition to find fault with those around 
her, and longings for strange or absurb articles of diet 
are all characteristic of the pregnant condition. 

Necessary Articles for Confinement. 

Every expectant mother has some friend or a mother 
who will advise her regarding the clothing for the baby 
and the articles needed in washing it. This is always best 
adjusted by them jointly. An experienced nurse will 
finish the details for the bed if consulted. There are 
a few things that the physician will need, and the list 
below will usually cover all his necessities. 

Chloroform, two ounces. 

Ether, one-half pound. 

Antiseptic tablets (corrosive sublimate), two dozen. 

Boric acid, one pound. 

Fluid ergot, two ounces. 

Brandy or whiskey, one-half pint. 

Fountain syringe (new one preferred). 

One skein of coarse white silk. 

One zinc bed pan. 

One soft rubber catheter (new). 

Absorbent cotton. 

Eubber cloth for the bed. 

Carbolized vaseline. 

Two and one-half yards of unbleached cotton for 
binders. 

Large safety pins. 



PREGNANCY. 15 

While inany of the above articles are not used often in 
confinements, it is best to be prepared for emergencies 
and extreme cases. With the above equipment a mother 
will be sure that she has all that may happen to be 
needed. 

The Confinement. 

The nine months' wait comes to an end for the mother 
often before she expects it ; also frequently it is prolonged 
far beyond her expectations. The writer has seen these 
variations reach three and even four months from the 
computed time. So common is a variation, or mistake of 
a month, made in calculating the date of confinement, that 
it has long since ceased to be noticed. This irregularity 
or uncertainty will always exist in these calculations, 
simply because there is no reliable starting point from 
which to count, and ail women do not carry the fetus the 
same length of time. 

Pregnancy means a period of 270 to 290 days from the 
last menstruation. Usually count is made from the first 
day of the last period, and then 280 days are allowed, but 
this is only the general average of time consumed. A 
simple way is to count nine months from the first day of 
the last full and natural menstruation; then allow one 
week more. This is probably as simple and correct as any 
elaborate system of figuring. 

Young mothers often ask how they will know when 
their sickness commences. To some mothers this is a very 
simple and easily answered question, as the sharpness of 
the pains leaves no uncertainty; but not always so even 
to those mothers who have had the shortest and most 
favorable labors. Occasionally they will experience dis- 
appointment in having a slow commencement and a 



16 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

tedious, powerless labor afterwards, without any visible 
reason therefor. 

The pregnant woman may experience false pains in her 
back occasionally for two to three months before the 
proper time for her confinement. These occur at inter- 
vals of fifteen minutes to an hour or more. Frequently 
they are severe and alarm even those women who have 
borne children before. False pains are recognized, not 
by their severity, but by their irregularity in force and 
time. They do not continue to grow worse steadily and 
to return more frequently as do the regular reliable labor 
pains which commence thirty or forty minutes apart and 
soon are only thirty or forty seconds apart. Pains are ac- 
companied by hardening and rising of the womb. In fact 
they are the painful evidence of this change in the womb ; 
which change is the contracting of the organ in its efforts 
to expel its contents. 

Pains. 

These are merely uterine contractions, and may be felt 
in the back or in front. Usually false pains are felt in 
the back; and also the first of the regular pains. The 
well established labor pains soon show greatest suffering 
in the abdomen, steadily increasing in force and frequency 
as labor progresses. 

The length of labor varies with the strength of the 
pains, the size of the infant, and capacity of the mother. 
The mother should keep on her feet, walking around as 
long as possible. In this way she secures the strongest 
pains and the shortest labor. Going to bed when pains 
commence often eases the pain but retards the labor. - 
Enough force must be exercised in pains (uterine con- 
tractions) to expel the child, and the mother should en- 
courage their quick and regular return by exercise. As 



PREGNANCY. 17 

pains represent natural uterine expulsive force,. it is always 
desirable to have strong ones, repeated at short intervals. 
This condition secures short labor, and should encourage 
the mother to exercise freely during labor. 

As the physician will now be in charge he gives his 
directions and assistance to the mother. It would be 
impossible as well as useless to give here any farther di- 
rections or suggestions to the mother, that would be ap- 
plicable to all cases. The variations are so many that 
only the physician is able to comprehend them and make 
proper application of means for successful management 
of each case. 

Every woman in the commencement of her labor 
should notify her physician early, and also have her nurse 
waiting. 

The Nurse. 

It is always best to consult the physician first about the 
nurse, when there is any doubt about his knowing or en- 
dorsing her work. As the physician is the responsible 
party, his assistants should always be reliable in carrying 
out his orders only. 

With trained nurses there is usually no doubt on this 
point, but with the untrained or old-fashioned monthly 
nurses there is at times some doubt about their ability to 
change according to the physician's directions. They 
have not had the requisite training, and only know each 
feature in the work from one standpoint, consequently 
they resent any changes in directions; are likely to be 
disloyal to physician and mother, and, worst of all, assume 
to do things their own way. This is dangerous work, 
and to an experienced physician simply intolerable. 

The honest, loyal physician grows more and more cau- 
tious about his patients, with increased experience and 



18 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

as years grow upon him. He feels his responsibility 
more each year and also feels that friends and attendants 
must bend all their energies to insure the comfort and per- 
fect recovery of the mother. To have an ignorant or unre- 
liable nurse there makes him continually suspicious, 
nervous, and uneasy lest a mistake occur with either the 
mother or child. Modern science has so clearly shown 
him, where one or both have been frequently lost or 
damaged in times gone by, and are even now meeting 
the same fate in unskillful or careless hands, that the 
expectant mother should always defer her judgment and 
choice to that of her physician in this important matter- 
selecting a nurse. 

Escape of Waters. 

Occasionally the membranes surrounding the child rup- 
ture and allow the waters to escape during the false pains 
or early in the labor. This should occasion no alarm, 'and 
unless accompanied by distinct pains does not demand 
the immediate attendance of the physician. This always 
occurs in labor at one stage or another. The early rup- 
ture means weak membranes which break easily; often the 
physician requires to rupture strong menbranes in order 
to assist and hasten labor. 

The physician is not needed till pains are distinct and 
regular, for without them he can do nothing. 

The Appearance of the Newly-Born Baby. 

A baby newly born is not a pretty object. Neverthe- 
less the new mother is always saluted and cheered with 
the assurance that she has a lovely baby or a beautiful 
baby. This is right; the baby is lovely or beautiful al- 
ways, even if it is not pretty. Few babies are pretty' 
when born. 



PREGNANCY. 19 

Fair babies look very red at birth and for some days 
afterwards. Dark skinned babies do not show so red and 
raw; and generally on that account are the best look- 
ing. 

Some babies when born have plenty of hair two to three 
inches long on the head; but the majority have only 
a thin crop of short fine hair, almost invisible on fair 
babies. 

The skin is very soft and velvety with a fine, downy 
sensation to the hand. This downy coat passes away, 
usually, with the jaundice and scaling of the skin in the 
second week. 

The skin is very raw and red on prematurely born in- 
fants, due to the imperfect development of the outer, or 
cuticular, layer. 

The nails are complete and perfect on full-term babies; 
but only partially formed on those born before full time. 
The same applies largely to the eyebrows and lashes. 

After the first two weeks a healthy full-time baby as- 
sumes its correct color and appearance. All swellings and 
jaundice have now disappeared; the food is adding to the 
flesh and weight; and the little one is assuming its truly 
pretty plump appearance. 

The Head of the Baby. 

The head of the infant when born is generally much 
deformed, due to the pressure it receives in passing 
through the bony pelvis. Deformity is generally in pro- 
portion to the length of the labor and the narrowness of 
the bony passage when the labor is natural. In instru- 
mental cases the deformity is often much increased by 
the pressure of the forceps. 



20 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Deformity. 

This is most commonly due to swelling on the part of 
the head coming down first in labor. It is caused by the 
pressure on all parts around the head constricting it, the 
same as a string does when tied around a finger. This 
pressure prevents the free return of blood to the heart, 
and, the spot receiving no pressure, swells up, thus 
giving the newly born head a long appearance and 
a doughy feeling, which passes away, usually, in a 
couple of days. Where labor is short and pains are very 
strong this deformity does not occur for lack of time. 

Deformity also occurs on account of the loose, soft, and 
mobile condition of the bones at this time. These bones 
at birth are like the outside covering of a chestnut when 
it loosens to allow the escape of the nut. The bones are 
four in number and are fastened together at the base of 
the skull, but are loose all over the top of it, having open 
seams between the edges of the bones and two vacant 
spaces, called fontanels, where there is no bone developed, 
at the intersections of the end and side bones. These 
open seams and soft, pliable bones are part of nature's 
plan to allow the head to mold itself to the size and shape 
needed in passing through the pelvis. Frequently, in 
difficult labor, pressure will cause the edges of the bones 
to overlap and the head to flatten and elongate, thus 
materially reducing its size. Were it not for these pro- 
visions — soft, pliable bones and open seams — large infants 
often could not be born alive. There would not be room 
for their heads to pass through, and both mothers and 
infants would die. Deformity from compressed bones 
passes away in a few days. 

The pliability and softness of the bones is so great 
that a little pressure of the finger will spring or move 



PREGNANCY. 



21 



any one of the four bones forming the cranium. Soon 
after birth the open seams close and the bones commence 
to solidify. This process goes on till it reaches the two 
spaces where the side bones connect with the front 
and back bones. At these two points open spaces are 
left, quadrangular in shape, one to one and a half inches 
in size. 

Fontanels. 
These spaces are called the openings of the head or the 
fontanels. They gradually lessen in size by the growth 
of the bones on all sides and are entirely obliterated, in 
healthy, vigorous, growing children, in fifteen to eighteen 
months. In rickety children, who grow bone imperfectly, 
the anterior or front, opening will not be closed before 

three to four years, and in these 
cases usually the outer table or 
half of the bones will be absent 
or very thin, leaving a depres- 
sion in the skull forever. The 
posterior, or back fontanel, 
nearly always closes up per- 
fectly. Figure 2 shows the 
bones, sutures or seams, and the 
fontanels. The anterior one 
is always the larger. The pul- 
sations of the artery can be 
seen and felt in it. In poor, 
delicate, w T eak children there is 
always a depression here till 
closed with bone, while in fat, plump children and those 
suffering from brain disturbances, this fontanel is full 
and smooth with the adjacent bones, or even higher than 
they are at times. By this means head troubles are often 




Figure 2. Bones of the Head. 



22 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



recognized in delicate children, as the engorged circula- 
tion in the head swells out at the fontanel. 



Nursery Armamentaria. 

It is useless here to enter fully into all the detail of 
articles needed and used in a well equipped nursery. 
The powder, brush, puff box, soap, vaseline, soft cloths, 
diapers, and clothes are a study in themselves peculiarly 
belonging to every mother, and varied according to her 
taste and means. These I find are always provided for 
satisfactorily and correctly, even to excess in many in- 
stances. Where inefficient or lacking at any point the 
ingenuity of the nurse or some friend always meets 
the emergency. 

Frequently syringes are needed to move the 
infant's bowels, wash the ears, or clean sore 
parts. For these purposes the soft rubber, one- 
piece ear syringe of a pear shape (Figure 3), 
is the most desirable pattern. Its 
softness prevents any hurting, 
and its shape requires only one 
hand in using it, thus leaving 
the other hand free to hold the infant. I 
have found this syringe capable of doing 
all that is required in the young infant. 

As the infant grows older, a larger syringe 
of the same pattern, with a hard rubber noz- 
zle (Figure 4), is required. It can also be 
used with one hand. 

Occasionally a syringe is required for 
enemas with which some force can be used, 
as in older children. The ordinary hard Figure 4. 




Figure 3. 

Ear Syringe 




PREGNANCY. 



23 



rubber one of two or four ounce capacity (Figure 5) 
should then be used. This may be procured with a short 
but not a bulbous nozzle. Where the nozzle is long a 
narrow cloth can be wound around it, thus forming a pad 
to press against the bowel while injecting, and prevent 
leaking backward before all is injected. 





Figure 5. 

A breast pump is often a necessity to relieve the mother 
of undue milk pressure when the infant is 
unable, from weakness, sore mouth, or sick- 
ness, to empty the breasts. One of the 
simplest forms of breast pump is that shown 
in Figure 6. With this a mother can 
very soon draw off a few teaspoons of milk, 
either to feed the infant, w T hen from any 
cause it cannot nurse, to relieve unpleas- 
ant pressure in the breast, or to remove old 
Breast Pump. milk regularly and thus secure healthy 
fresh made milk for the next nursing. 

A china sponge basin having two compartments (Figure 
7) is a very desirable ad- 
dition to the nursery. It 
avoids the necessity of two 
separate basins, as it holds 
both hot and cold water 
side by side, thus render- 
ing it very Convenient for Figure?. Sponge Basin. 

all washing and cleaning when a full bath is not required. 
These sponge basins can be obtained with regular stands 




24 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



of the proper height for use. Having a hand hold 
in the division they are convenient to move with one 
hand. This is an improvement on the ordinary basin. 

A small infant's bath (Figure 8) will soon be a neces- 
sity for bathing the little one. While the sponge basin 
may do during the first month for all purposes of wash- 
ing and bathing, a larger vessel will be required after that 
time in which the infant can be placed and have a regular 
bath and washing at the same time. 




TnnrTTr 



Figure 8. Foot Bath 



By placing two strips of board across the regular bath 
tub, and placing the footbath on these a convenient height 
and place will at once be obtained for the baby's bath. 
This may still farther be improved by attaching a piece 
of hose to the faucet and thus conducting the water directly 
to the infant's bath tub. The ordinary spray hose may 
be used for this purpose as shown in Figure 8. 

Tempering the bath is an important feature of baby's 
toilet. This should be very accurately done for new-born 
infants especially, and also carefully done for all children 
during the first three months, as well as for delicate in- 
fants of all ages. When infants are perfectly healthy and 
well fed a variation of a few degrees in the temperature 
of the bath does not make much difference. Mothers 



PREGNANCY. 



25 



should remember that the great danger is in having the 
bath too cold for a young or delicate infant. Nothing 
injures them so much as the extraction of the natural heat 
from the body, and nothing will do that so rapidly as a 
cool bath. 

Where an infant shows any shivering or blueness it 
should be removed from the water at once, dried very 
quickly and wrapped in hot blankets till the natural pink 
color returns to the lips. The bath must never be given 
in a cool room, and there should always be quick heating 
facilities in the bath-room at all seasons of the year. 

To secure a perfect and uniform temperature for the 
infant's bath, a thermometer cased in wood (Figure 9) 
should be used. It should be read while in the water. 
Many mothers test the bath with their hands. 
They should remember that the hands can 
stand a temperature of 115° F. under ordinary 
natural conditions. Where the hands are 
chilled they will not stand 115° F., and where 
habituated to heat they will bear 120° F., or 
more. 

The temperature of the infant is about 99° F. 
and that of the skin is 95 c to 96°. The bath 
should not be a shock, and consequently should 
not vary much from 96° to 100° for the daily 
bathing. If continued long the evaporation 
will reduce it soon below 96° and may be in- 
jurious. Making the bath commence at 102° 
to 104° will not do any harm. Where it is 
necessarily continued over five minutes, hot 
water should be added to maintain an equable 
Figure 9. temperature in delicate children. 
mometer. A bottle of fresh olive oil is a necessary 



26 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

accompaniment of the nursery. Besides being needed in 
the first bath, it will frequently be required for cleaning 
scalded and red sore spots on the little one, and for soft- 
ening the scaly, gummy, sebaceous secretion that accum- 
ulates on the scalp over the fontanel. All red chafed and 
irritated spots on the hips and in the folds of the skin are 
made worse by moisture, especially by adding soap. These 
spots are best washed daily with soft cotton and olive oil, 
till all redness disappears. With this treatment regularly 
repeated and the skin kept perfectly dry, the worst irri- 
tations and chafed spots will usually disappear in a few 
days. Infants with tender skins should be oil-rubbed 
instead of washed at all times. 

A portable bath tub is often a great convenience as it 
enables the baby to be dressed in the room most suitable. 
A light home-made one is easily made with a piece of 
white rubber cloth one and a quarter yards long and 
thirty inches wide. A wooden frame is made of wooden 
strips two inches wide and one inch thick. The 
frame is made three feet long and twenty inches wide, 
the pieces being put together sideways making a shallow 
box two inches deep. On the upper edge of this the 
rubber cloth is tacked all the way around the top, folding- 
it in on the corners. This leaves the rubber hanging 
down inside the frame, forming a soft flexible bath. To 
hold this up while in use four legs, twenty-eight inches 
long, made of stock one and one-fourth inches thick, two 
inches wide at one end and tapering to one inch at the 
other, are fastened with one small tire bolt or strong 
screw through the broad end of the leg to the side of 
the frame, and about one inch from the end. This 
bolt or screw should be passed through the frame one and 
one-fourth inches from the top and the same distance 



PREGNANCY. 27 

from the broad end of the leg, so that the leg when at- 
tached will not show above the frarne. This makes the 
legs so that they will fold up along side of the 'Tame 
when not in use, thus enabling the whole bath to be 
stood up behind a door like a picture frame. To 
strengthen the frame a strip an inch and a quarter square 
should be nailed across the ends, on the under side of the 
end pieces, allowing it to project one inch on both sides 
of the frame. These projections will block the swinging 
legs when outstretched for bathing purposes, thus mak- 
ing all solid when in use. This makes a handy, portable 
bath tub of the proper height. 

Sore Nipple Protectors. 

Many mothers suffer greatly from sore nipples. Not 
only do they suffer from the child's mouth in nursing, 
but also from the contact of the clothes after nursing. 
The usual female garments press the nipples down into 




Figure 10. Sore Nipple Protectors. 

the breasts, and the secretions from the cracKs and abra- 
sions ferment on and around the nipples and dry to the 
clothes, causing pain and distress when separated, thus 
preventing the healing process. This pressure and irrita- 
tion can be prevented, and the healing of cracked and 
abraded nipples facilitated greatly by wearing little flat 
cornucopia? made of pasteboard, five to six inches in 



28 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

diameter. These will rest on the breasts and stand out from 
the nipples (Figure 10) thus holding the clothes away, giv- 
ing relief from pressure and securing rapid healing. These 
sore nipple protectors are made of ordinary pasteboard. 
A piece five to six inches square should be made round, 
then an incision should be cut in one side, reaching to 
the center. The two sides of this cut must be overlapped 
and stitched together, thus raising the center to the 
requisite height to keep all clothes from touching the 
nipples. 

These nipple protectors should be worn from the com- 
mencement of nursing until all soreness has disappeared. 
They prevent the clothes from sticking to the nipples 
and from crowding the nipples down into the breasts, thus 
affording great comfort to the mother. If the nipples are 
bathed after each nursing with Remedies No. 88 and 
then dressed with Remedies No. 90 all soreness will be 
avoided. Where the nipples are very tender and cracked 
the same treatment faithfully carried out gives the least 
suffering to the mother and the most rapid healing pos- 
sible. The writer has not found any other line of treatment 
give such satisfactory results as this. With this dress- 
ing no washing of the nipples is required before nursing. 
This dressing prevents sore mouth in the baby. 



CHAPTER II 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 
Experience is the true guide for the mother. 



In all the business walks of life we find the more ex- 
perienced men and women most careful in selecting their 
assistants and heads of departments before employing 
them. Why is this the case? Because they know that 
only by experience can a person correctly and successfully 
discharge duties imposed on him. Nor is the employer 
satisfied, when he has such assistants, to entrust his goods 
and products to their care only. He knows that his own 
supervision is daily and hourly required to assist, en- 
courage, and direct the best skill he can employ in any 
department. He is looking for perfect results, and has 
learned that the ability to secure them has been obtained 
through many errors and generally much loss or damage 
of product. 

Is there any branch of life in which an experienced 
man or woman would think or say that the knowledge or 
experience now had or known concerning it was com- 
plete, and nothing more would ever be produced improv- 
ing or advancing the present knowledge or methods 
governing its growth, manufacture, or care? Such per- 
fection is only attained by nature herself under her most 
favorable conditions. 

Witness the difference in the results of nature's work 
under different conditions. Look at the development of 

29 



30 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Medical advice without cost is as valueless as it is 
generous. 



man in the different zones, and note well the strides he 
makes in the temperate zone as compared with the snail- 
like pace he soon assumes when moved far north or far 
south to less congenial and less stimulating surroundings. 
Again look at the results in vegetable life — compare the 
towering California redwood trees to the northern 
scrubby birch or the southern dwarf palm, and you see, 
even in the hands of the Master, that environment, which 
means care, gives astonishingly different results. 

Let us apply these facts to the home circle. A young 
couple, perhaps the only children of our unfortunate Amer- 
ican one-child habit, are married. In time their first child 
appears, whether as a blessing or source of worry and 
sorrow soon becomes evident. If the young mother is 
healthy and is blessed with a plentiful supply of healthy 
milk, we see humanity under the California redwood envir- 
onment, and can confidently hope for the towering and 
beautiful results produced in those natural and favorable 
surroundings. 

But, as when we move the least distance east, west, 
north, or south from California we find vastly different 
results in the vegetable kingdom, due to less favorable 
surroundings, so, in the human family, when our 
thoughts pass from the ideal mother, with youth, perfect 
health, mental repose, and abundance of good nourishing 
milk for her vigorous, well-developed baby, to the sickly, 
harassed, inexperienced, anxious, and uneducated mother, 
we must expect in the children to find varying results, 
some trying to emulate the California redwood trees in 
appearance and perfection of growth, some showing the 
puny, slender, difficult growth of the scrubby birch, and 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 31 

The young- mother requires teaching- on infantile sub- 
jects. She does not inherit this knowledge. 



others the short, unsymmetrical, gnarly appearance of 
the dwarfed palm. 

Why should we see these different results among 
children in the same zone, surrounded by the same atmos- 
phere and with access to the same food? Nature allows 
this in plants also, but teaches the experienced gardener 
by cultivation and proper care to make the weak plants 
strong and vigorous also. It is his skill and constant 
attention that experience has shown necessary to secure 
these results. So with the human family must it be the 
skill and constant attention of the educated and trained 
mother that will make the small infant grow large, the 
pale one bloom into color, the weak one become strong^ 
the sluggish one hasten in speed, the delicate one harden 
into the most vigorous, and the inherited weakling steer 
clear of his baneful inheritance. 

Do you think our young American mother, with no 
experience in nursing or caring for the younger brothers 
and sisters in a large family, can possibly have this 
knowledge and ability to do justice to her own offspring? 
Do you think that the knowledge on this important and 
vital subject has been so completely exhausted that there 
is nothing more to glean? Do you think that mothers 
are born w T ith all the information there is known on this 
point, or do you think that the young mother can select 
the correct one from the half dozen different advices 
given her daily on how to care properly for her delicate 
child? 

Is not the great diversity of advices given the young 
mother the very best proof of the ignorance of the ad- 
visers? Who would presume to advise a business man 



32 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

As the mother reads and studies for good results on all 
household subjects, so also must she do on all infantile 
matters. 

Dietetics and the laws of nutrition should be taught 
to the school children. 



to change his methods of doing business, or the intelli- 
gent wife her ways in housekeeping ? How quickly 
would such advice be resented ! And yet on this infantile 
matter this is the daily habit, even of those people skilled 
in business. Why can this be so? Ignorance! Ignor- 
ance! Ignorance! If they knew the truth, all would 
agree, and one advice only would be needed instead of 
the half dozen offered daily. 

Is it not strange that we should be so ignorant in this 
point ; that we should travel to the end of this Nineteenth 
Century and yet have made no distinct educational effort 
to teach the scientific and rational principles of nutrition 
to our children ? In this are we still barbarians, depend- 
ing on parental instinct, or in other words following the 
law of the "survival of the fittest?" Our cemeteries 
say so. 

With a moderate knowledge of the laws of nutrition 
and digestion ground into the future parents during school 
days stronger, larger and more vigorous children would be 
the result. They would know errors at once, and have 
intelligent reasons for correcting them. No longer would 
the happy-go-lucky, hap-hazard style of thinking and 
directing the child's progress prevail. Then would dis- 
tinct rules govern, and intelligence and thought be the 
guiding factors in developing our successors in the human 
family. 

Compare, the general knowledge on this subject, as 
shown by the diverse methods followed in raising children, 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 33 

If an infant's value could be calculated in dollars, as 
were the slaves, the principles of nutrition would be stud- 
ied more carefully. 



with the fixed principles and certain labor of the florist or 
stockbreeder, who cultivates nature's product in other 
fields. What does it show? That where we can estimate 
methods by the money they produce, we are infinitely 
more skilled than where this law does not prevail. 

To overcome errors in the human family it is needed 
that the laws of dietetics and nutrition be made a neces- 
sary part of our educational system and taught regularly 
to the children in all our schools. 

Were this the case, do you think that the mortality 
among our volunteers in the Spanish war would have 
shown as it did six times as many deaths from diseases of 
the digestive organs as from Spanish bullets? 

Irritating the Nipples. 

The first application of the child's mouth is very likely 
to cause sore , nipples. Particularly is this the case in 
primipar#, but it also occurs with every child in some 
women with thin or delicate skin. This should always 
be borne in mind, and the child applied as little as possi- 
ble till the full supply of milk appears. We should 
always remember that the child draws harder the slower 
the milk comes, and always draws hardest on an empty 
breast. 

Frequently we find young mothers during the first two 
days suffering absolute torture in their efforts to bear this 
pain. This should be avoided by feeding the child with a 
-little sugar water (very weak) alternating it with nursing 
till the free secretion of milk is established, and the nip- 
ples can bear regular nursing. 



34 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Proper care of the nipples before labor will often avoid 
pain and suffering afterwards. It will also frequently avoid 
sickness of the infant. 



The tender nipples should also be regularly bathed 
after nursing with a solution of boracic acid, one tea- 
spoonful to the cup of water. This will prevent sores 
and cracks on the nipple and when honestly persevered 
in will prevent future suppurating breasts. For these 
nipples also apply Remedies No. 90 regularly after each 
bathing with boracic acid. As this ointment is harmless, 
the nipples will not require any cleaning before the next 
nursing; on the contrary, it is better that it should not 
be done as the ointment will prevent sore mouth in the 
infant. In all tender nipples the protectors (Figure 10) 
should be worn constantly. 

Careful attention should always be given to strengthen- 
ing the skin of the nipples, by daily frictions with water 
only, during the last two months of pregnancy, that it 
may be strong and able to bear the irritation of the child's 
mouth in nursing. Neglect of this feature will often 
sacrifice the whole milk secretion of one or both breasts, 
through cracks, excoriations, and resulting suppuration. 

Enlarging the Nipples of Primipara. 

Primipara should always commence early in pregnancy to 
elongate the nipples by drawing them out freely once or 
twice daily, so that there will be no difficulty in the child's 
grasping them when the breast is swollen and the nipple 
retracted by the first rush of milk. Neglect of this feat- 
ure has sacrificed many a breast, preventing nursing en- 
tirely, or making it so difficult for the child to grasp the 
short nipple that the skin is badly abraded and great suf- 
fering follows at every nursing. 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 35 

Very little nursing- of the baby, and dry food for the 
mother should be the rules governing- till a full supply of 
milk arrives. 

The proper food gives g-ood milk and a happy, strong, 
successful baby. 



By giving attention to these preparatory details, and 
also by giving the new mother only dry food and no 
drinks till the first milk arrives, the child obtains plenty 
of food and a fair start in life, and its digestive organs 
are not outraged by the quality or quantity of foreign 
food required when nursing is impossible from sore nip- 
ples. From this time the mother's diet will require care 
and attention to perpetuate the good quality as well as 
the quantity of milk secreted. 

Nursing Mother's Diet. 

A fair proportion of animal and vegetable food is 
requisite, with the ordinary warm tea or very weak coffee, 
for the secretion of good, easily digested milk. Excesses 
in meat, milk, or eggs, in the dietary, will make a milk 
which is difficult to digest and make the infant restless 
and colicky, with occasional green, slimy stools. 

Mothers have, generally, while nursing, to avoid all 
sour or acid foods and drinks or cold drinks, except those 
with warm meals; all raw fruit, except the sweet, sugary 
and fully ripe varieties; and cabbage. Perhaps the latter 
will disturb the milk secretion most frequently, though 
some mothers, with good stomachs and secreting easily 
digested milk, can eat it regularly without causing the 
infant any distress. 

Great care should always be observed in properly diet- 
ing the young mother in the beginning to secure a good 
start for the infant, as this is the time of greatest danger. 



36 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Considerable difference in the treatment may be 
demanded by different patients. The poor anemic mother 
of 100 pounds should not be treated like the strong, 
plethoric one of 200 pounds, neither should the primi- 
para with untested mammse and nipples be given the 
dietetic liberty that may at-times be granted to the tried 
and proven mother of half a dozen children. An error 
at this time may subvert all future efforts of both mother 
and nurse for successful nursing by causing sore nipples 
and consequent suppurating breasts. 

Avoid Increasing the Milk at First. 

To understand this subject clearly let us first look at 
what is often necessary during the later periods of nurs- 
ing. When a mother is deficient in milk at any time, 
with empty and flaccid breasts, she is advised and 
properly so, to partake freely of nourishing drinks. This 
fills up all the blood vessels, particularly those of the 
breasts, and thus gives them a greater supply of well 
nourished blood, with which the milk glands secrete 
more milk. Now, what have we at childbirth, as soon 
as the milk secretion commences, but the very opposite 
condition — an engorgement or intense swelling of the 
breasts, which frequently causes considerable suffering 
till the nursing of the child draws off enough milk to 
relieve the pressure. Now, this opposite condition should 
receive the opposite treatment. All mothers should be 
cautioned against liberal drinking of all kinds until the 
first full secretion of milk is established and the milk 
glands are able to relieve the engorged blood vessels and 
thus prevent the pain and danger of suppuration, which 
is too common at this time. After this is fairly estab- 
lished and the child is able to nurse freely and regularly, 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 37 

Correct diet of the mother secures peace and rest for the 
whole family, by making- good baby food. 



then the general solid dietary, which has always been 
restricted in quantity up to this time, can be gradually 
increased. Also a more liberal amount of liquid may be 
allowed. The increase in both of these must be governed 
by the flow of milk. 

The digestive organs of the poor milk secreter may 
be gradually crowded up to their full capacity, while 
those of the copious secreter should be restrained in both 
solid and liquid dietary, within the bounds of a fair supply 
of milk. 

Irregular Nursing of the Child 

either too often or too seldom will cause imperfect de- 
velopment and nearly always indigestion also. This 
irregularity does not refer to those longer intervals always 
occurring at night, and the occasional half hour longer 
or shorter between nursings in daytime, which always 
occur in raising a healthy child. The character of the 
stools, coupled with the ability to sleep comfortably, will 
always show whether the nursing is correctly done. 
Yellow stools and continuous quiet sleep are always indis- 
putable evidence of healthy milk, a proper quantity of it, 
and feeding regularly enough done. 

Empty the Breasts During Sickness. 

In all cases where the mother desires to again nurse 
successfully she must be very regular in her attention to 
her own breasts during her own sickness or that of her 
infant. On this point there is not usually that great 
care exercised which is requisite to always secure a fair 
amount of milk of a perfect quality. Too frequently we 



38 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Nursing- only at regular intervals secures an even 
quality of milk, and a happy infant. 

Overworking the mother reduces the milk supply and 
injures the infant. 



see the mother forget that her infant is a success because 
of the regular fresh secretion of milk every two or three 
hours. In sickness this regularity is forgotten, and the 
sick infant is allowed to nurse milk six or eight hours 
old. The common result is stomach disturbance in 
the infant and more damage than benefit invariably 
follows. 

The rule should be to nurse the breasts regularly, 
whether the infant is fed with the milk or not. By doing 
this the regular secretion is perpetuated, and as soon as 
it is again needed by the infant it comes fresh and true 
to strength. By this means perfect nutrition of the 
sick child is secured, in proportion to the amount =of 
milk drawn, and rapid convalescence follows this perfect 
nutrition. 

The Overworked Mother. 

Commonly a poor, pale, anemic woman asks advice for 
her cross colicky baby six months or more old, perhaps 
even less. The first glance tells the physician that the 
woman and her duties are not properly balanced. Question- 
ing her shows that she is steadily losing weight, strength, 
and ambition. Examination shows she is not sick ; then she 
is doing too much and wearing away. The food she 
consumes is not enough to nourish her, supply milk for 
the child, and perform her labor also. Then nature 
divides the food around to these three points demanding 
it. As her work demands so much food to do it daily 
there is only a small balance left for the mother's and the 
child's sustenance. This not being sufficient, the result 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 39 

Remember every mother has not a good milk, even 
when abundant. The infant's green, slimy stools say this. 



must be a cross child and a failing mother. The pre- 
scription will naturally be, 

Less work, 

More Mother, 

Better child. 

Women who Should Not Nurse Children. 

This may be divided into those who cannot secrete a 
healthy or nourishing milk and those who can secrete a 
nourishing but unsafe milk. 

Of the former, we have subjects from all classes of 
society, and these may show bad results at any time 
during the nursing period. These mothers may come 
from healthy stock, may have nursed successfully before, 
or this may be the first child. It matters not; the milk 
must now be made of such quality as to bring yellow, 
inodorous, mustard stools, or it is a failure. 

Frequently we find the error in the mother's dietary, 
conduct, mental or physical condition. She may look 
well and be strong herself and yet under the best care 
and directions fail to secrete a healthy milk. Her child 
is cross and restless, has unhealthy, foul stools, and does 
not gain in weight. Such a child must be weaned, or 
during the first hot weather or epidemic disease it will 
probably die. 

Of mothers who secrete a nourishing but unsafe 
milk we have examples among those who inherit tuber- 
culosis, cancer, syphilis, insanity. 

Here we have mothers who cannot allow their 
physical condition to be reduced, lest they increase their 
own sickly tendency, and also lest they still farther 



40 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Scarcity in mother's milk too often means bad quality 
also. 

All medicines damage the quality of the milk secretion. 
Many reduce the amount also. 



impart their weak tendency to the children. Here we 
have both parents and children who cannot afford to be 
reduced in any way lest the tendency in their health 
towards their innate weakness be increased. All these 
mothers and infants require the best of care and nourish- 
ment to give -them the greatest possible protection. Only 
in this way can they live over their ever present tendency 
downward. 

The children of such parents should, if possible, have 
a wet nurse of undoubted ability to properly nourish an 
infant. This she must demonstrate beyond all doubt by 
the appearance of her own infant. If a wet nurse can- 
not be obtained, then the most correct nutritional dietf is 
an absolute necessity in order to avoid the child's inher- 
ited tendency, as this is most likely to show in childhood. 

Mothers Under Medicinal Treatment. 

Mothers suffering from chronic or constitutional ail- 
ments, can seldom follow any medicinal treatment while 
nursing. There are few medicines which do not affect 
the milk unfavorably, causing the child to become cross, 
restless, and uneasy. Nearly all medicines appear in the 
milk, and show their physiological effect on the child. 
This fact can, and is taken advantage of frequently, to 
produce a desired medicinal result oh the little one, 
especially where the mother also requires the same treat- 
ment. It would not be allowable to administer medicine 
to the mother purely for a treatment of the child, except 
in very extraordinary cases, and then only for a short time. 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 41 

Mental "worry makes a cross, colicky milk. A violent 
temper also is reflected in the child. 



Mental Condition of the Mother. 

A disturbed mental condition of the mother is sure to 
affect the milk unfavorably. Fear and anger have been 
known to cause convulsions in the nursing infant. 
Fretting and mental anxiety always reduce the amount of 
milk secreted, and at the same time damage the quality 
of it. This secretion is so completely under the control 
of the nervous system, that all mental conditions produce 
characteristic results on both the amount and quality of 
this product. It behooves all mothers to bear this in 
mind continually, and not charge to ill temper or sick- 
ness in the child what it may be receiving daily and 
hourly in its nourishment. While it is a common and 
trite saying among women, "that the true way to reach 
a man's heart and health is through his stomach/' far 
more applicable would be this expression if applied to 
those little ones who are entirely dependent upon their 
mothers, both physically and mentally, every hour during 
the first six to ten months of their existence. 

Women Who Should Not Nurse. 

Women in poor health very frequently secrete a poor 
or unhealthy character of milk. Poor quality is shown 
by the continued crossness, paleness, and limited growth 
of the child. In unhealthy milk these symptoms will be 
accompanied by foul smelling, slimy stools, which may 
be continually loose, or costive and loose by turns. While 
frequently the children of scrofulous and tubercular 
mothers (both the same) are good digesters and appar- 
ently thrive well and grow rapidly, there is always the 



42 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"When an infant does not thrive and feel happy, look 
carefully to the mother's milk. 



great probability of increasing their inherited weakness. 
Danger is materially increased in these cases where there 
are any enlarged glands, lumps in the breast, or sores and 
cracks of an obstinate character on the nipple. 

Where the mother is suffering from any chronic cough 
or irritation of the lungs or bronchial tubes, it is impera- 
tive that she avoid nursing. 

The Syphilitic Mother. 

The syphilitic mother should never nurse her own 
children, seldom will they thrive if she does. They gen- 
erally become poor, brownish yellow colored, wrinkled, 
and old looking. Under proper nourishment and suitable 
treatment most of these cases will thrive fairly well, and 
few sores or eruptions will appear on the skin. 

Poisonous Milk from Mental Disturbance. 

Authentic cases are on record where a sudden mental 
shock to the mother has suddenly developed a poisonous 
condition of the milk and killed the child, and from the 
worried mother every physician is accustomed to see fever, 
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and even convulsions commonly 
occur in the child. With these results plainly staring us 
in the face it behooves us first to thoroughly imbue the 
mother with her ability to nurse and not allow any doubt 
on this point to arise at any time. Having done this, 
then see to it that no other mental distress, loss of sleep, 
worry over the child, extra care, imperfect digestion, or 
undue toil depreciate or lessen her lacteal capacity. Her 
thoughts and employments must be always of the kind 
which conduces to the greatest amount of happiness and 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 43 

Mothers must remember that the infant's success 
depends as much on their own mental condition as on 
their food and health. 

Mental disturbance in the mother is sure to affect the 
infant. 



enjoyment. In this condition we have the, best digestion, 
the most perfect appropriation, the greatest rest, and con- 
sequently the largest healthy milk secretion possible. 

The Apprehensive Mother. 

The apprehensive mind often causes the greatest trouble 
in nursing. So great is this influence that at times it 
completely subverts successful nursing. The fear that 
she will not be able to nurse not only reduces the amount 
of milk secreted, but commonly alters the character of it. 
You ask me, How can this happen? In answer — Where 
did you ever see any person that digested well and largely, 
in an anxious, worried, mental condition ? Where did you 
ever see a person sleep well in this mental condition ? Where 
did you ever see a person increase in flesh and improve in 
color, while under this mental lash ? These are impossi- 
bilities. How then can you expect a mother to support and 
nourish well a second life when she is not able to care prop- 
erly for her own ? A moment's thought and consideration 
of the situation will show the absolute impossibility of 
lacteal success till the mother is happy and free from this 
strain. Unfortunately the apprehensions and suggestions 
of physician and friends are often tinctured with too 
much nursing uncertainty to be a mental tonic and solace 
to the anxious mother at this time. What true mother is 
there who does not want of her own flesh and blood to 
nourish and sustain the helpless little duplicate of herself, 
the product of her own womb, that child whose struggles 



44 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Perfect confidence in her ability to nurse contributes 
greatly to the doing of it. 



and movements have been her silent company for many 
months prior to birth, and for whom she has patiently 
and willingly endured nausea, privation, distress, and ex- 
cruciating pain; nay, more, for whom she has willingly 
risked her own life. Think of it then, what greater shock 
or privation (except death itself) could at this time be 
suggested to her, than the probable inability to nurse her 
baby? Small wonder is it that the suggestion of a wet 
nurse to many a mother causes her to declaim with horror 
against any woman having the privilege of nursing her 
offspring. Some women hate the sight of a wet nurse, 
and others say they feel as if they wanted to shoot them. 
It is only their intense love for the child and anxiety for 
its future success that gains their consent to this neces- 
sity, and only then, after they realize fully that nothing 
else will save the life of the little one. Encourage the 
mother in every way, should always be the rule. 

Perfect Digestion Required in the Mother. 

We have already referred to perfect digestion on the 
part of the mother as a necessary foundation for good 
and abundant milk secretion. This is a point where fail- 
ure too often asserts itself, through the lack of education 
on this subject. Every mother, especially one poor in flesh, 
should have this necessity thoroughly drilled into her. 
Not only once, but twice, thrice, and many more times, must 
this important subject be impressed upon her. Not for 
one or two meals daily, but for all meals on all days must 
this absolute need for perfect digestion be recognized. 
Here will come in the necessity for careful medical advice, 
and little, if any, medical treatment. Every physician 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 45 

The gormandizing mother bids for a cross, restless baby. 

A mixed diet for the mother makes the best milk for 
the infant. 



must realize the great importance of the mother's digest- 
ive power at this time, and carefully educate her by all 
non-medicinal means, to secure its most complete 
success. Herein will frequently come the necessity for 
using digestive stimulants or assistants. They can be 
used with great advantage in weak digesters and continued 
indefinitely, always tending to the improvement in flesh 
and strength of the mother, and, also, the increase of the 
milk supply. True it is, that if used indiscriminately, in 
all classes of digestive organs, especially of hearty eaters, 
many times they would tend to the production of colicky 
milk. This quality must not be charged up against these 
stimulants, but against their careless and ignorant appli- 
cation, and to unsuitable cases, which should be other- 
wise handled. 

Food Indulgence. 

Milk cannot be made from one food alone. A fair supply 
of nitrogenous food (eggs, meat, and milk) and farina- 
ceous also (sweet fruit, vegetables, and cereals) is 
required by every nursing mother. If she can depend 
on one line alone it must be the farinaceous. The nitrog- 
enous foods are principally tissue builders and make 
that building element in the milk called albuminoids or 
proteids and also the fats. While a fair share of this is 
needed for growth and strength, an excess causes indi- 
gestion and consequent crossness in the child. This fact 
must be borne in mind by nursing mothers and warn 
them against an over indulgence in meats, eggs, and milk. 
The fact that they can digest it well and comfortably is 
no evidence of its suitability or desirability as a milk 



46 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Indigestion and unsuitable food for the mother cause 
indigestion and crossness in the infant. 



producer. Many a mother causes a restless and disturbed 
night for her child by partaking of a too hearty break- 
fast of eggs or a too generous dinner of meats. Her 
milk is too albuminoid for comfortable digestion. Drink- 
ing large quantities of milk is open to the same objec- 
tion. 

Mother's Food After First Month. 

Some mothers can partake of all kinds of food without 
any appreciable deleterious influence on the milk. Their 
children are generally blessed with good digestive organs, 
which are not easily disturbed, and also the milk is an 
easy one to digest. Generally it is necessary for the 
mother to avoid sour drinks and fruits, cabbage, spiced 
meats, pickles, coffee, and spirituous liquors, as these 
change the quality of the milk. It is also always neces- 
sary that she avoid all kinds of food which previous 
experience has shown her are difficult for her to digest. 
Nothing is more important than that she avoid an attack 
of indigestion. This demands that she always eat and 
drink such food and quantity thereof as she knows she 
can digest comfortably. Every mother must, at this 
time and also during the whole nursing period, realize 
that her uncomfortable physical sensations are more or 
less reflected in the child through the changed character 
of her milk, and the child rebels against these changes 
by being "cross." 

Foods that Increase the Milk Secretion. 

Frequent] y it is necessary to stimulate the milk secre- 
tion, on account of deficient supply. This must be done 
with food, as there are no medicines which will do it. 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 47 

Beer and tea make more milk but a poor quality. 

Too exact regularity in feeding- may be as injurious as 
the opposite. Generally, let the infant speak. . 



In some women neither food nor drinks show any appre- 
ciable power to increase this secretion, but in the majority 
of mothers nourishing drinks in liberal amounts will 
produce very decided results. The drinks generally 
most successful are gruels made from oatmeal or corn- 
meal, weak tea, beer, and with some weak women, dilute 
milk and beef tea. The use of milk, beer, and beef tea 
must be watched carefully as they produce a colicky milk 
in some cases. With some mothers these drinks tend 
more to produce fatness than increased milk secretion. 
The amount of these extra foods and drinks must be 
controlled by the mother's ability to digest them com- 
fortably. Enough to cause indigestion always decreases 
the flow of milk. 

Regularity in Feeding the Baby. 

While it is well to impress upon the mother the neces- 
sity of regularity in feeding the child, this cannot be 
made a cast-iron rule. Judgment and reason must be 
exercised in this matter, and the time will frequently, in 
a healthy child, require to be varied a quarter to half 
an hour on account of sleepiness or the size of the last 
meal. A small meal may demand a shorter interval and 
a large meal a longer one. The main necessity is 
that mothers do not fall into the dangerous habit of 
nursing merely to quiet the child regardless of time, 
vomiting, or the amount of food taken. By adhering to 
this general regularity in feeding, health and growth are 
secured for the child and rest and comfort for the mother. 
This applies equally to nursed and hand -fed children. 



48 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The night should not be disturbed by feeding" when this 
can be avoided. 



Proper Intervals Between Nursings. 

Frequently vomiting is not caused by the amount 
drawn at any one time, but on account of the too fre- 
quent repetition of the nursing. Too many mothers 
make trouble for themselves and babies by not adhering 
to regularity in intervals between nursings. The new- 
born child should be fed, when healthy, every one and a 
half hours in day time for the first month or six weeks; 
after this every two hours till the fourth month ; from the 
fourth to the seventh month every three hours; from the 
seventh month onward every four or even more hours in 
some cases. During the night time a healthy new-born 
infant will nurse two or three times, and less often as it 
grows older. 

Care should always be taken by the mother not to feed 
frequently at night, as this soon establishes the habit, and 
great harm is caused by it, for the disturbed sleep of the 
mother reduces the quantity and changes the quality of 
her milk, causing indigestion and crossness in the child. 
When the child shows the disposition to turn night 
into day, the greatest perseverance must be exercised in 
denying the food at night and giving it regularly in day 
time, always waking the child if needed to make it feed. 
Here it may be allowable to give the little one some 
anodyne for one or two evenings to assist in establishing 
the regular habit of sleeping at night. Where a child is 
fed regularly for twelve or fourteen hours, if the food is 
suitable, there will follow a period of several hours' rest 
with few demands for food. The frequent feeding hours 
should always be made to come in the day time. 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 49 

Moderate exercise improves the milk secretion; over- 
working- decreases the amount and injures the quality 
also. 



Exercise of the Mother. 

This is a feature receiving too little attention by many 
mothers during lactation. There can of course be no 
fixed rule on this point designating the amount of exer- 
cise suitable to all mothers. The general principles 
governing this feature must be intelligently applied. 
Perhaps it cannot be better expressed or explained than 
it is by this idea — there must be enough exercise to se- 
cure comfortable, refreshing sleep at night, but not so 
much that the mother is still wearied and tired after a 
good night's sleep. The amount will of course vary 
greatly according to the strength and age of the mother. 
It is a well known fact, that exhaustion or anything 
approaching it from exercise diminishes the milk supply 
and generally changes the character of it also. The food 
consumed must supply the force or power for all duties, 
physical, mental, and maternal. If this food is expended 
in exercise it cannot be used in secreting milk, conse- 
quently the amount of exercise or labor allowable must 
be in proportion to the amount of food consumed, the 
perfectness of digestion, successful sleep, and the amount 
of milk needed. The latter, being a necessity, should 
receive first consideration, and care should be taken that 
the digestion is so strong and perfect that it will supply 
enough aliment for this, and a fair share of physical exer- 
cise afterwards. -Without this exercise we cannot have 
that good, healthy discharge of all functional duties of 
the internal organs requisite for good health and good 
milk. 



50 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A wet nurse who works is the only reliable one. She 
must be kept busy or she will be a failure. 



Wet Nurses. 

Wet nurses are to be revered or dreaded according to 
their quality. Not always so, however, for occasionally the 
demands on a wet nurse are more than any women in her 
changed conditions can fill. But so often is the attend- 
ance or presence of the wet nurse in a home a great trial 
from the unexpected domestic and financial conditions, 
that we have come to look upon the suggestion of their 
necessity as a fact to be dreaded. While the writer has 
had some trying complications from their presence (or 
at times their absence) yet he is happy to say that the 
vast majority of wet nurses are successful, and the lives 
of many children can be traced to their kindly care and 
good sustenance. In many instances they are willing to 
do the housework while the mother cares for the infant, 
and in not a few cases have they continued as servants 
after the child was weaned. 

Not second in importance is the care of the nurse's 
little infant whom necessity has suddenly robbed of its 
food. Unfortunately many of these die. This is espe- 
cially true of those who have not enjoyed their mother's 
milk for two to three months at least. 

In fact, there should be a law preventing mothers from 
leaving their children to the care of others before they 
are three months old. Experience shows at least this 
time is needed in nursing to strengthen the infant for 
the shock of substitute feeding, even if this is done by 
skillful hands. All mothers who employ wet nurses 
should see to it that the nurse's infant is in competent 
hands and that the caretakers thoroughly understand the 



THE YOUNG MOTHER. 51 

Always provide for feeding- the infant of the wet nurse. 
This will prevent the nurse leaving- you when it is sick. 



substitute milk feeding. Only in this way can a kind 
mother reconcile her thoughts to the sacrifice made by 
the wet nurse. When this subject is thoroughly under- 
stood by our American mothers, there are none of them 
who will fail to attend to this as a first duty. It be- 
hooves them to do so, as thus they secure that peace of 
mind and happiness necessary in the wet nurse to prop- 
erly nourish her adopted charge. Failure to observe 
this necessity causes the probability of a sick child when 
the wet nurse can least be spared to attend her own off- 
spring, and a second sick child from the nurse's desertion. 

Requisites for Producing Good Human Milk. 

1. A healthy woman from 20 to 35 years old. 

2. A good appetite. 

3. A liappy mental condition. 

4. Good digestive organs. 

5. Regular bowels. 

6. Moderate physical labor. 

7. Plenty of sleep. 

8. Absence of menstruation. 

While many women are good nurses before twenty and 
many others are likewise the same after thirty-five, yet 
most of the failures occur in these extremes of age. The 
only proof of success is the growth and comfort of the 
child. 

Proper Time to Wean the Baby. 

Caluminous assertions are made in the public press 
reflecting on the willingness of American mothers to 
nurse their own children. I am pleased to be able to 
deny this of our Detroit mothers; who, I know, are only 



52 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Never wean in June, July, August or September, unless 
sickness compels it. Always wean when the infant is 
healthy and strong". 



too much worried lest they may be unable to perform this 
function. Many times do I find this anxiety actually 
interfere with their success, and frequently it becomes 
necessary to remove this apprehension in order that nurs- 
ing may be a success. For the one mother in Detroit 
who tries to avoid nursing her child, there are fifty most 
anxious to perform this loving duty, and the great diffi- 
culty is to induce those who cannot do it successfully to 
realize the necessity of weaning soon enough to prevent 
damaging their infants. 

No mother should commence weaning her healthy child 
before it is ten or twelve months old, without good cause 
for doing so; and in such case she should not entertain 
the idea except after the careful and painstaking investi- 
gation of the necessity therefor by her physician. The 
too common idea that an infant can be fed as well and 
successfully as it can be nursed should always be opposed ; 
and the mother should also remember that this change 
is very frequently a dangerous one. Certainly very 
serious sickness and even death itself are common results 
of it. Age, health, season, and food must all receive 
most careful study before entering on this serious altera- 
tion in the child's sustenance, even if it is proper weaning 
time. A high rate of mortality follows cases of forced 
weaning. 



CHAPTER III. 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. 

Only give sweetened water and a few drops of cream to 
the newly born infant, before the mother's milk comes. 

The mother must control the diet of the infant from the 
hour it is born, and thus avoid future sickness. 

After the infant is born and dressed the watchful eye 
of the mother should be turned to the diet of the infant. 
Why should the young mother or any mother be loaded 
at once with this responsibility at such a critical time? 
And why not? She is the mother. She has the greatest 
interest in the infant. She will have the greatest care 
and responsibility in the future. To her will come the 
anxious days and sleepless nights of future infantile 
sickness. "Others come and others go," but "she stays 
on forever." She will be the sufferer by the mistakes of 
others' making at this important and tender time. Will 
she set her opinion or dictum against that of older and 
presumably more experienced women around her? Why 
not, when she knows that a very little sweetened water, one 
part of sugar to twenty of water, or very dilute cream — one 
part of cream to ten of sweetened boiled water, is the most 
that is safe for her infant till her milk comes ? Is she not 
like the child who has learned his letters perfectly 
and knows every one separately? Does she not know 
them all correctly ? Who can know them better, 
and does she not recognize at once those who do not 

53 



54 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The mother's milk usually arrives on the third day. 
Until then little food is needed for the infant. 

The capacity of the infant's stomach when born is only 
6 to 8 teaspoons. More than this is injurious. 



know these letters of feeding as correctly as she does ? 
She must never hesitate, one mind must rule. And now 
is the time for her to commence holding the reins. 

Usually the mother is not able to supply the child with 
food as soon as it is born. This is not necessary, as 
nature has supplied a sufficient nutriment in the infant 
to last for a day or more. In the light secretion existing 
in the mother's breast there is also some nourishment. 
These are sufficient till the bowels are completely emptied 
and the infant has enjoyed a good sleep of twenty-four 
to thirty-six hours. 

Very little nourishment if any is needed before the 
mother's milk arrives. This is usually on the third day. 
Occasionally it comes on the second or even the first day. 
Where it is necessary to feed artificially, parents should 




Figure 11. Actual Size of the Infantile Stomach at Birth. 

remember that the capacity of the infantile stomach is 
only six or seven teaspoonsful. (Figure 11.) Nothing 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. 55 

Colostrum milk comes during the first week of nursing 
and during- poor health. It causes crossness, colic, and 
diarrhoea. 



should be given but a little sweetened water, as this is 
the aliment most easily digested and the one selected by 
nature to be the largest constituent in healthy human 
milk. One teaspoon of sugar to about twenty of warm 
water is strong enough for first feeding. All other foods 
must be avoided at this time, as they are foreign to the 
infant "s digestive power and are sure to cause indigestion 
and colic. 

First Milk ; Colostrum Milk. 

The first secretion of the breast is not as rich as the 
later milk, and is of a light, glairy color, having little 
resemblance to the natural milk secretion. This is known 
as colostrum milk, and is intended by nature to act as a 
laxative in loosening the bowels and cleaning out the first 
stools. See how nature provides for a necessity. In the 
newly born infant there is an accumulation of dark, 
greenish, or black tough viscid fcecal matter. This is 
difficult to move and this colostrum, or first milk, 
acts like a laxative, washing out this tough glutinous 
material. 

Colostrum milk always continues to be secreted for a 
few days and may in some women continue for a couple 
of weeks where the convalescence is complicated by other 
sickness or a very debilitated condition. Under these 
circumstances the usual colicky state of the infant while 
drinking this colostrum milk is prolonged in like manner. 
Generally during this time the infant loses weight or 
gains little till a healthy condition of the milk is 
established. 



56 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Healthy human milk gives twenty hours daily of calm, 
easy sleep to the newly born infant. It should feed every 
one and one-half hours in day time and twice through the 
night. 



Healthy Human Milk. 

After the first few days of nursing the baby with an 
abundance of her milk, the mother will find the infant 
sleeps most of the time, it being necessary to waken it in 
day time to have it nurse and thus relieve the painful 




Figure 12. Appearance of Healthy Human Milk Under the Microscope. 

tension on the breasts from this full secretion of milk. 
This nearly continuous sleep of twenty hours daily proves 
the healthy character of the mother's milk, and ' while 
the infant rests in this calm, comfortable way we may be 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. 57 

Unhealthy human milk causes green slimy stools. The 
infant should be ■weaned if the stools do not come yellow 
and without slime. 



sure the food is suitable and look for steady and rapid 
growth in the little one. 

During this calm, restful, sleepy time the baby always 
has the characteristic healthy stools — yellow and inodorous, 
with a mustard paste consistence. The young mother 
should note these characteristics carefully, remembering 
that the sure success in both mental and physical develop- 
ment of the child always accompanies these healthy 
stools. 

Unhealthy Human Milk. 

The general impression is that the mother's milk is 
always the right food for the baby. While this is correct 
in the vast majority of cases, there are a few instances, 
where this milk is injurious to the little one under all cir- 
cumstances, and will keep the child cross, restless, and sick, 
with little or no gain in weight while fed on it. There 
are again other cases where the milk will remain good for 
a few weeks or months and then change character. This 
generally occurs in fleshy, nervous, and unhealthy 
mothers. 

There are also cases where a mother's milk damages 
one child, while it has been perfectly successful with 
previous children. It is generally found under the 
microscope that where there is an unfavorable change in 
the nursing that the milk contains colostrum, an ingre- 
dient always present during the first week of nursing. 
Colostrum milk contains little nourishment, is difficult 
to digest, and acts as a laxative on the child. This 
condition of milk secretion is due to sickness of the 
mother, and should receive prompt attention, as the 



58 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Green slimy stools make the infant cross, uneasy, and 
sleepless. It cannot thrive well while they are of this 
character. 



child cannot rest or sleep and fails steadily while the milk 
is of this character. 

In these children there is continual distress and 
uneasiness, sleep is intermittent and frequently disturbed; 
occasional vomiting occurs; gas is constantly returning 




Figure 13. Microscopical appearance of unhealthy human milk, showing the 

large colostrum cells of the first five days' nursing or during 

a sick era. 

from the stomach, and, also passing freely through the 
bowels ; the stools are foul odored, green and slimy, or 
pasty and many colored. The infant remains pale, with 
soft flesh and gains very slowly or not at all. Frequently 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. 59 

Where a nursing- infant's stools cannot be made yellow, 
inodorous, and pasty, by treating- the mother, the infant 
should be weaned. 

Delicate mothers, those having indigestion, and those 
sick otherwise, or worried much, make a milk unsuited for 
the infant's health and growth. 



the child of five months is little heavier than when it was 
born, and its only salvation is in a wet nurse or a care- 
ful weaning, that brings yellow, inodorous mustard paste 
stools. 

May Need Weaning. 

Where due attention has been given to the mother's 
health, all her habits of exercise, diet, and rest regulated, 
and yet the child after careful medicinal treatment re- 
mains cross and restless without gaining weight, unless 
some strong reason appears against it either in the health 
of the little one, its age, or warm weather, the propriety 
of weaning should be at once considered, if a wet nurse 
cannot be obtained. 

Indigestion in the Child. 

Indigestion appears frequently in nursing children, 
either as an inherited weakness, or as a result of some 
sickness. We find instances after weaning, where a 
child cannot digest all parts of the milk, but will thrive 
on the fats and liquids after the casein or cheesy part 
has been lessened or mostly removed; also cases where the 
fats will sometimes disturb the stomach and cause loose- 
ness of the bowels, where too much cream is given in 
the dietary. So also do these results appear in nursing 
children with delicate stomachs. And may be serious 
enough in some cases to necessitate weaning. 

Where the mother is perfectly well, but overworked, 
overfed, or anxious and worried we generally find the 



60 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Too much meat, milk, or eggs eaten by the mother makes 
colic and crossness in the infant. 

The cross, colicky, restless infant is a sick one. It is 
always happy when well. 



infant's crossness and failure to grow due to an excess of 
proteid in the milk, and sometimes due to deficiency or 
excess of cream. Here the condition of the mother must 
be corrected before the infant can succeed. Her exercise 
must be regulated to a healthy amount daily, her food 
adjusted to regular and reasonable amount at each meal, 
not consuming too much meat, milk, or eggs; and her 
mental condition made happy and reasonable so she 
has plenty of sleep. If the child is not made comfortable 
by these changes, and the stools a healthy yellow, the 
necessity of a wet nurse or weaning should be considered 
at once. 

Mother's Milk Injures the Infant. 

Hitherto this has been recognized only when it be- 
came so apparent from continued sickness of the child as 
to necessitate weaning. Herein exists a great mistake, as 
few mothers will consent to this until they feel that the 
child's life is endangered. Before this point is reached 
great damage, sometimes irreparable, is done and the 
foundation for future poor health of the little one estab- 
lished. This should not be the existing condition of 
maternal nursing. Mothers should be so well educated 
and experienced on this subject that they can give the 
little nursling the same careful and anxious dietetic 
thought they would give it if sick with some fever. This 
means that the cross, restless, or colicky child is a sick one 
due most frequently to the character of the mother's 
milk. When mothers understand this thoroughly they 
will realize that it is their prime duty to secure such 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. . 61 

Less than four ounces -weekly gain in weight demands 
weaning, or an improvement in the mother's milk. 



medical advice and attention when the infant first shows 
uneasiness as will ascertain where the error exists and have 
it corrected before the infant is damaged. Only in this 
way can they hope to raise strong, healthy, vigorous 
children, who are a pleasure to the eyes and a comfort to 
the hearts of their parents. 

Food Should Be Changed. 

"Where the weekly weighing of the nursing baby shows 
less than four ounces gain in weight, the mother should 
look carefully to her own diet and to her mental and 
physical condition. If with this failure to gain in 
weight there should also be much varying in the color of 
the infantile stools and a tendency to vomi, she must 
decide soon on weaning from her milk. If she find that 
she cannot within two weeks at the outside correct these 
features, she should always procure a wet nurse if it is 
during warm weather. If the infant is under four 
months old it is always safer to secure the wet nurse than 
to try feeding on humanized cow's milk. This is the only 
food which should be tried with such young children. 

The wet nurse should be secured without the hesitation 
and delay usually accompanying this serious complica- 
tion. Here promptness and decision are of the greatest 
importance, and the mother should be made to realize 
that hesitation now may mean the life or future develop- 
ment of her infant. The mother's milk, in these cases, 
carries poisonous or irritating qualities which rapidly 
produce changes in the infant's digestive organs and 
blood. If not checked early these changes soon pass be- 
yond perfect repair and some beyond any repair. These 



62 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"Where a mother's milk fails to nourish properly, a wet 
nurse is the best substitute for young- infants. 

"When an infant has had two or three months of suc- 
cessful nursing, it may be weaned, if a good wet nurse 
cannot be obtained. 



infants soon lose the power to digest milk of any kind, 
especially the casein or proteid which is the strength and 
tissue builder. When they reach this point they show 
the yellow, waxy color, the soft flesh, .the blue veins, and 
the weak muscles of the rickety infant, and it may soon 
not be possible for the child to digest even the healthy 
milk of a wet nurse. 

Where the wet nurse fails to secure yellow, well digest- 
ed stools, which are the only proof of her success, then 
weaning is the only resource left. The idea now is to 
secure nourishment through dilute cream, whey, meat 
juices, and prepared starchy foods which have reached/the 
sugary stage through perfect boiling for three hours and 
the addition of malt extract when feeding. 

As meat juices present a proteid different from milk 
and a new element, extractives, not in milk, this infant 
may occasionally digest it well. If such be the case, 
then a very dilute starch, such as rice or barley water, 
sweetened and flavored, must at once be added to this 
diet. If this is not done the infant will fail rapidly on 
meat juices or whey alone. The rice or barley water 
should be increased in strength as fast as the stools show 
good digestion. 

On these combination diets the stools loose their milk 
yellow color, become gray or brownish and more consist- 
ent and formed. Stools from a meat diet have always a 
stronger odor, and will occasionally continue fluid in 
character while the scales show a steady increase in 
weight of the infant. 



FIRST FOOD OF THE INFANT. 63 

Yellow, inodorous, mustard paste stools are proof of 
successful feeding in young* infants. Children having these 
thrive well. 



When these stools become too solid oatmeal starch 
should always be used; when too liquid the starch from 
rice and barley is preferable. 



CHAPTER IV. 



COW'S MILK. 

Cow's milk properly adjusted to the infant's digestive 
organs is the only safe substitute for human milk. 



The nearest duplicate known for human milk is the 
same product from the cow. When we realize the diffi- 
culties that we confront in feeding this nearest substitute 
to young infants, how vain do the efforts of patent food 
manufacturers prove to be! Analyses shows how widely 
far from nature's plan they are in their crude and 
futile attempts to follow her perfect designs. Nor do we 
need to depend upon analyses for this knowledge. The 
lamentable and painful results of feeding these proprie- 
tary foods to infants come too often before experienced 
physicians to require any farther proof of their unsuita- 
bility. Could the dollars these manufacturers make by 
these foods be laid side by side with the corpses and 
cripples they cause, the path made by the money might 
reach across the continent, but the road paved by the 
innocent corpses would wind round the world, and the 
cripples would be represented by the telegraph poles 
spread along this silent and lamentable way. 

Cow's milk carries less sugar than human milk, having 
only four per cent., consequently it has less fattening 
power. But this deficiency can be easily corrected by the 
addition of milk sugar or cane sugar. 

The greatest difference and difficulty arises from the 
excessive amount of the proteids or tissue building 

64 



COW'S MILK. 65 

For safe infant feeding- the running" element, proteid, 
must be reduced and more sugar for heating the child, 
added to the food. 

The proteid or cheesy part of cow's milk is difficult 
to digest, and causes stomach and bowel disturbance when 
not properly reduced. 



material. These are generally over twice as much as in 
human milk, and being always the difficult part to digest, 
become a grave matter with most infants. 

As the young of the cow is compelled to run and keep 
in motion from birth, this excess of proteids is necessary 
in cows' milk, and the calves' digestive organs are made 
strong enough to digest it. 

But the young infant does not require so much pro- 
teid till about a year old, when it also commences to run 
about, and nature adjusts its digestive power to its neces- 
sities at each age. What the calf requires for strength 
and wear at birth, the young child does not require for a 
year later, and only then will the stomach of the child 
be able to digest successfully pure cow's milk in its 
natural state. 

Why, you will ask, does nature refuse to allow a 
stronger digestion in the child? Simply because the 
digested result could not be consumed by the inactive 
child; and if digested would require to be thrown out 
by the kidneys to prevent poisoning the blood, and thus 
destroy the child's life through febrile disturbances and 
kidney obstruction. 

Of these latter conditions we have many striking 
examples causing hundreds of deaths yearly in all large 
cities, and thousands of other children who barely escape 
death, very often suffering many weeks' sickness from 
bad digestive results. These are the infants fed on arti- 
ficial foods by the generous and kind, but mistaken hand 



66 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

There is most liquid proteid in human milk, and most 
cheesy proteid in cow's milk. 

Cow's milk must be reduced till no curds show in the 
stools. Curds are the proteid in excess. 

of the mother. Were it not for nature's protecting 
emesis and correcting diarrhea, many hundreds more 
would be added to the cemeteries in all towns and cities 
every summer. 

But to return to the proteids. The excess of these in 
cow's milk does not represent all the difficulties. Their 
quality must also be considered. Proteids are composed 
largely of casein or cheese, and the balance of liquid 
albumen. This latter element is easily appropriated, 
requiring little digestion, and thus gives little trouble to 
the child, but the casein or cheese is very difficult to 
digest, giving great distress to many children. Of this 
latter, or cheese making material, we have five times as 
much in cow's milk as is present in human milk. This 
is the main cause of difficulty in feeding children with 
cow's milk. On the other hand, we have twice as much 
of the easily digested liquid proteid in human milk as 
there is in cow's milk. 

Putting the five times greater amount of the difficult 
cheese stock with only one half the human complement 
of the easily digested albuminous stock, you will see at 
once the cause of difficulty in feeding cow's milk to 
children with delicate digestive power. All recent modifi- 
cations of milk aim at reducing this inequality in pro- 
portions, and as nearly as possible simulating those in 
human milk. With a little care the mother soon learns 
to do this successfully, and the infant grows accord- 
ingly. 



COW'S MILK. 67 

Own your own cow ; feed only pure ground grain, bran 
and hay ; have clean vessels and milkman ; keep the milk 
on ice and feed it raw. 



Making Perfect Cow's Milk. 

If possible own your own cow. Have her tested for 
tuberculosis. See that she is otherwise healthy. Feed 
her with pure mixed clover and timothy hay. Mash her 
with pure bran and ground grain. Never feed her fruits 
or vegetables. Have one person do all the feeding. 
Avoid all waste foods from breweries and factories. 
Never feed more than the cow eats promptly. Give her 
plenty of water, but not very cold. Give her no fresh 
grass, or, if necessary, feed her entirely on grass, but 
this is not as good. Wash the udder carefully before 
milking. And also wash the hands carefully. 

Milk into thoroughly clean tin or porcelain vessels, 
covered with a clean cotton cloth. Cool the milk rapidly 
in cold water and store it in small bottles in a refrigerator. 
Then you do not require to injure it by cooking (pasteur- 
izing and sterilizing), except in hot weather. 

Never warm it over blood heat when feeding, as doing 
so kills the cell life in the milk. Raw milk is alive and 
always better than sterilized milk when it is safe to feed 
it, as it is in all cool weather. 

Jersey Milk. 

The milk of Jersey cows is not so suitable for infant 
feeding as is that of the common grade breeds. The 
former are more delicate and more variable in their milk- 
ing qualities and are thought more liable to sickness. 
They are interbred so closely that they have not the vigor 
and strength of the common grade animal, and their milk 
is so rich in butter fat that it is very difficult for even an 



68 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Jersey milk is not suited to infant feeding. Common 
grade milk is the safest. 

Never buy milk made in or near a city. Always select 
that made twenty or more miles in the country, where 
farm foods are cheap and city slops and waste brewery 
grains dear. 

adult to digest any quantity of it. Such milk cannot be 
used in feeding very young children or the older ones 
with weak digestive powers. 

How to Buy Milk for the Baby. 

Never think the milk is right unless it agrees with the 
baby and produces yellow, inodorous, mustard paste 
stools. Continuous supply of milk for house purposes is 
no proof of goodness or purity. Adults use little of it 
and have strong digestive organs. 

Never buy milk made in or near a city. The cheapest 
food suitable is generally the one fed to the cow. Waste 
vegetables and brewery or distillery grains make bad 
milk. Buy from a respectable dealer milk made on high 
land twenty or more miles from the city. Examine the 
cleansing facilities of your milkman, or send your own 
vessels for the milk. Buy from the dealer who ships all 
his milk in glass from the country. 

Examine carefully for dirt, in the bottom of the glass 
bottle bringing the milk to you. 

Do not buy milk which sours rapidly, except this 
occurs only in hot, showery weather. 

Irregular souring means unclean vessels or old milk. 

Do not buy Jersey milk for infant feeding. 

Do not buy milk from an unclean milk depot, dirty 
man, or a drunkard. 

Pay full price to the reliable dealer and exact full and 
perfect conditions in the milk at all stages. 



COW'S MILK. 69 

Buy the infant's milk from a reliable dealer. Pay full 
price for the best you can get in glass. Report all errors 
to the proprietor at once. 

Exposure to the air always spoils milk. Pasteurizing 
will correct this error. It stops the souring of it. 



By buying milk made a long distance from the city 
you avoid having the brewery grains and slops of the 
city used as cattle food. This milk is always bad for 
infant feeding.* 

By buying from dealers who ship to the city only in 
glass 9 you should secure milk in clean bottles, as then 
the dealer must have proper facilities for cleaning the 
large number of bottles perfectly. 

By buying from such dealers you reach a more reliable 
class of men with more money invested in the business. 

Also you secure the fewest exposures to contamination 
and infection through air and vessels before the milk 
reaches you. 

You also avoid having your neighbor's bottles taken to 
the street and filled from a can, to hold your daily sup- 
ply = This is a common practice which I have seen milk- 
men do in Detroit. 

Requisites for Producing Healthy Cow's Milk. 

1. Two or more healthy common cows which secrete 
a good quality of milk. They should be tested for 
tuberculosis by the tuberculin test. Any graduated vet- 
erinary surgeon will do this for you. The milk from a 
herd is generally preferable to the milk from one cow, as 
there will less damage ensue if the milk of one cow is 
wrong at any time. The milk of Jersey cows is unsuit- 
able for infant feeding. 

2. Plenty of fresh water, mixed clover and timothy 
hay, ground grain and middlings to feed the cows. 



70 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All milk contains bacteria; heat destroys all forms of 
them. Healthy raw milk is the best except in hot weather. 

While many cows secrete a fair quality of milk on grass 
food, this is an uncertain quality, being affected by rains y 
temperature, weeds, land, and levels. Such milk too 
often causes indigestion and colic with green stools. 

3. A clean, airy stable, thoroughly ventilated. 

4. A clean man to do the milking. 

5. Thoroughly clean, scoured, and scalded vessels to 
receive the milk. The pail into which the milking is 
done should be covered with two layers of a clean 
cotton cover to prevent any dirt falling into it. The 
milk will pass through this cotton cover. The cow's 
udder should be thoroughly cleaned before the milk- 
ing commences. This is best done by brushing and 
washing. 

6. Straining and rapid cooling of the milk and keep- 
ing it on ice till used for feeding. 

7. No exposure of the milk to the air that can be 
avoided, as exposure spoils the milk very rapidly by al- 
lowing bacteria from the air to enter it. These bacteria 
multiply rapidly and cause souring. 

8. Pasteurization in hot weather always. This is 
necessary to prevent bacterial changes of all kinds. It is 
also necessary to destroy any pathological germs that 
may come from unhealthy cows. Where the cows have 
been tested for tuberculosis and show no evidence of 
other diseases this may not be required by people who 
use plenty of ice for keeping the milk. 

During cold weather pasteurization is not needed 
when you have absolute control of all other features in 
the milk. A healthy raw milk is to be preferred always, 
as it more nearly follows nature's plan. 



COW'S MILK. 71 

Test the cows for tuberculosis when feeding raw milk 
to the infant. 

Bacteria in milk causes souring". They float in the air 
and lodge in the milk. Heat destroys them. 



Tubercle in Milk. 

The milk from tuberculous cows is now considered 
capable of carrying tubercle bacilli even when there is 
no apparent disease in the cow's udder. Veterinarians 
demonstrate this transmission of the disease to calves and 
pigs when fed on it, but clear proofs of transmission in 
this way to children have not yet been produced. It 
must be remembered that the digestive fluid of a healthy 
child will destroy these bacilli and prevent infection 
through this source, but in delicate children with dam- 
aged or abraded digestive organs, as in indigestion or 
diarrhoea, the digestive fluid is weak and infection from 
these tubercle bacilli may occur through these abraded 
surfaces. Here sterilizing or pasteurizing destroys these 
bacilli and thus prevents this infection. 

Bacteria in Milk. 

Many bacteria are found in cow's milk. These may 
come from exposure to the air or from the exit tubes in 
the cow's udder or from unclean vessels. The principal 
evil produced by them is the fermentation or early sour- 
ing of the milk. These bacteria are also destroyed by 
heating the milk in pasteurization and thus the milk is 
prevented from souring. 

In very hot weather this heating or pasteurizing should 
be repeated every twelve hours to be successful. 

Sterilizing Milk. 
Since the necessity for sterilizing milk has been recog- 
nized, many people believe that this process makes all 



72 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Sterilizing- means boiling-. It kills all disease and sour- 
ing germs, but does not otherwise improve the quality of 
milk. 



milk suitable for infant feeding. This is of course a 
great mistake. Sterilizing milk will prevent it from 
souring for a few days, if the air is completely excluded 
afterward and the milk kept cold. With good, clean, 
fresh milk sterilization enables parents to provide the 
regular food for the child in hot weather and while 
traveling. This avoids the dangers from frequent 
changes of diet and is very important. 

Milk is sterilized by heating it to the boiling point 
and retaining it there for twenty minutes to half an hour. 
It must be sterilized in the bottles which are to hold it 
till used, and stoppered with sterilized cotton and kept in 
a refrigerator. The greatest care must be exercised not 
to allow any exposure to the air after sterilizing, as this 
will destroy all the good effects of this treatment and 
cause souring. Each bottle should contain only one 
feeding, and any balance left after feeding should be 
thrown out. 

Pasteurizing. 

This is the latest process advocated in treating milk to 
prevent its early souring and spoiling, especially in hot 
weather. In this process the heating is only carried to 
170° F. and retained there for twenty to thirty minutes. 
This temperature is sufficient to prevent any souring 
changes in the milk. Here the heating must also be 
done in the bottle, which must be stoppered while hot 
with sterilized cotton and placed in a refrigerator. 

Two ways are used in domestic practice for pasteuriza- 
tion. Both are simple and effective. In one the bottles 
are placed in cold water, which is placed on the fire. As 
soon as the water commences to boil the bottles are 



COW'S MILK. 



73 



Pasteurizing- means heating- to 1 70° F. for half an hour. 
It kills all germs and does not change the taste of the milk. 



stoppered and removed. In the other process the vessel 
with the milk is placed in boiling water, which is then 
set back on the stove where it will not boil but remain 
hot. The milk is left in this hot water for half an hour 
and then removed. This process is not suitable where 
bottles are used on account of their liability to break 
when being filled. 

As milk treated in this way soon spoils after opening 
the bottle or vessel and exposing it to the air, only such 
amount should be placed in each container as will be con- 
sumed at one feeding. Where more than one feeding is 
contained the balance left must again be treated as at 
first to preserve it. Exposure to the air causes a new 
souring contamination and must have heat repeated to 
correct this. 

The Arnold sterilizer (Figure 14) can be used for 
either pasteurizing or sterilizing. The process followed 
is to prepare the full mixture for the 
day and put one feeding in each 
bottle. There are eight bottles. The 
bottles are then stoppered with raw 
cotton, being careful first to wipe all 
milk from the mouths of them. The 
bottles are placed in the rack of the 
sterilizer, covered up and placed on 
the fire, with the pan half full of 
warm water. About an hour is 
required on a hot stove for sterilizing 
and a shorter time for pasteurizing. 

Where the milk is designed for Figure 14. Arnold Sterilizer. 

traveling or to keep a week or more, the sterilizing must 




74 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Sterilizing- or boiling changes the taste of milk and 
reduces its nourishing power. 

After sterilizing or pasteurizing always exclude all air 
with cotton plugs or seal hermetically. 

Pasteurization is preferable to sterilizing. It does not 
change the taste, coagulate the liquid albumin, or kill the 
milk cells. 

be repeated two or three days in succession in order to 
kill all souring and pathogenic germs. Care must be 
observed not to let the cotton plugs touch the milk. For 
transhipping or carrying rubber plugs well boiled should 
replace the cotton ones. Lime water should not be 
added to milk before sterilizing, as it causes the milk to 
turn brown. Bicarbonate of soda does not produce this 
effect and should be used instead of the lime water, or 
add the lime water at the feeding time. 

Sterilization vs. Pasteurization. 

The effects of sterilization on the milk are: 

1. Changed taste by boiling. 

2. Coagulation and loss of the serum albumin. 

3. Change and increased difficulty of digestion in the 
casein. 

•A. Evaporation of part of the fats, and corresponding 
decrease in nourishing power. 

5. Destruction of the living cells in the milk. 
The effects of pasteurization are : 

1. No change in taste. 

2. No coagulation of serum albumin. 

3. No perceptible difference produced on the casein, 
or its digestibility. 

4. Less evaporation of the fats. 

5. Decreased nourishing power. 

6. Destruction of the living cells in the milk. 



COW'S MILK. 75 

Too much boiled milk causes scurvy and rickets. 

Milk is not improved in any way by heating", except to 
prevent souring- and kill disease germs. 



All these changes, by heating, point to the desirability 
of raw milk, like the mother's, when it can be obtained 
pure. 

Is Sterilizing or Pasteurizing Beneficial? 

As boiling makes the albumen of an egg hard, insolu- 
ble and difficult to digest, so does sterilization or boiling 
act on the albumen of milk, and also render parts of it 
difficult to digest. When we consider that the coagulum 
or cheese gathered in a pint of cow's milk when heated and 
peptomized is five times greater than that formed in the 
same amount of human milk, we can realize how easily a 
hand-fed child can become a sufferer from indigestion from 
slight errors in its milk. In fact in many it is very diffi- 
cult to avoid this form of trouble when feeding any form 
of cow's milk, while with some others it is an impossibility 
to feed it in any form, and perseverance in doing so will 
even kill the children. 

Kemembering this difficulty of digestion which occurs 
mainly with the casein of the milk, it can readily be seen 
that any treatment by heating which increases this diffi- 
culty should only be used when absolutely necessary. 

As cold is the perfect and sure preventive against fer- 
mentation or souring, and as raw milk is more nourishing 
and easily digested than either sterilized or pasteurized 
milk, it follows that these processes should not be used 
except in warm weather. 

The experience of the medical profession at present is 
adverse to feeding young infants on cooked food. Many 
cases of scurvy, eczema, and imperfect development have 



76 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Milk made from brewery grains, slops, waste vegetables 
and other poor foods is not improved in quality by steriliz- 
ing or pasteurizing. 

An infant requires a fair amount of raw milk. Human 
milk is always raw. 



appeared within the last few years, and these have often 
been traced to the too general sterilizing of the milk with 
which these children have been fed. It is much to be 
regretted that the public have become too much imbued 
with the supposed advantages of cooking the milk, and 
have seized on this process as a means of correcting all 
imperfections and impurities in this food during the last 
few years. So much is this practice adopted now, that 
some forms of disease, new in this country, have become 
very evident, and cures of them are obtained only by feed- 
ing entirely raw food to these children. 

While undoubtedly during hot weather sterilizing and 
especially pasteurizing are beneficial and necessary where 
absolute cleanliness and a milk temperature below thirty- 
five cannot be maintained, yet parents should remember 
that these processes should be followed only for such 
time as the hot weather continues. 

Unfavorable Results in Cooking Milk. 
We have before referred to the mistaken idea among 
so many parents, that sterilization or pasteurization made 
any and all milks suitable for infant feeding. This is a 
very grave error and one that has sacrificed the lives of 
many children. Heat can only destroy the pathogenic 
and fermenting germs, and prevent farther damage from 
them. The errors which occur from food, breed, nursing, 
health and treatment of the cow are beyond any correcting 
influence of heat, and must always be calculated on in 
selecting the milk supply. 



COW'S MILK. 77 

The volatile elements in milk are driven off by boiling" it. 
Cooked milk does not make bone like raw milk. The chil- 
dren are not so strong". 



While we acknowledge all the beneficial anti-souring 
effects of heat on the milk which is nearly the sole food 
of the child for the first six or eight months of its life, 
experience compels us also by the results we see on many 
children thus fed, to recognize that this heating of the 
milk has also a very injurious effect on the development 
of the child in many cases. This bad result is shown 
mostly in the bony development, and is evinced in the 
slow growth of teeth, and the weakness and tardy devel- 
opment of bone. These, combined with a pale color and 
weak muscles make many a large child, as well as the 
small one, weak in the limbs and slow in walking. The 
opening in the head long remains large, closes roughly, 
and often leaves the head flat on the top. Such children 
become rickety or scorbutic, and the large increase in 
numbers of these since sterilization has become a popular 
practice in feeding them, shows that these results are 
largely due to feeding too much cooked milk. . . 

The proof of this error lies in the fact that these chil- 
dren improve rapidly when fed on raw milk. There are 
elements, volatile in nature, which are driven out of the 
milk by heating. These are essential to the growth and 
development of the young, and should be retained if pos- 
sible in the milk. 

Condensed Milk. 

This makes large, fat babies, and many think this 
proves its suitability as food; but size is frequently the 
only feature of which these children can claim possession. 
They are behind in everything else — cutting teeth, walk- 
ing, activity, mental capacity, complexion, and symmetry. 



78 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

While it is valuable in many cases as a temporary food, 
it should not be relied upon as a continued diet. It is 
always short on fat or cream, and carries an excess of 
casein. Some brands of it are preserved from decompo- 







Figure 15. One of the results caused by feeding sugary and weak foods, such 
as condensed milk. 

sition by the addition of cane sugar, which is very 
fattening, and causes large, sluggish babies. The excess 
of casein or cheesy stock in condensed milk generally 
causes obstinate constipation 



CHAPTER V. 



THE ELEMENTS IN MILK AND PREPARATION 
OF MILK FOODS. 



Constituents of Milk. 

Nature always uses a dilute food for infants. Milk is 
seven-eighths water and only one-eighth food. 



Human milk is composed of 

Water, 87 to 88 parts, and 
Solids, 12 to 13 parts in the hundred. 
The solids are made up of 

Cream or fat, about 4.00 per cent. 
Milk sugar, 7.00 per cent. 
Proteids, 1.50 per cent. 
Salts, 0.20 per cent. 
Let us look for a moment at these constituents. 
The water serves as the diluent of the solids, and is 
the drink, or liquid, needed in the body for all physio- 
logical purposes. Mark the proportion that it bears in 
the food — over eighty-seven per cent, of the whole 
amount; and in future efforts to feed a child, do not for- 
get that Nature calls for a dilute food. 

Now note the solids and the work each performs in 
feeding the child. 

- The 4 per cent, of fat is consumed in the growth and 
heating of the child (in making nerve and bone), and also 
in lubricating the bowels. The surplus not needed in 

79 



80 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

More than one-half of the solids in milk is sugar. This 
shows the great importance of this element in infant 
feeding. 

Proteid is the most difficult element in milk to digest. 
To it are due most diarrheal attacks. 



warming the infant is always utilized in making soft, 
regular stools. No harm can come from an extra amount 
of fat in the food, for it always passes off as waste in this 
way, and generally assists in removing constipation. It is 
the fat, or cream, which gives the yellow or orange color to 
the stools, thus showing that the fat is abundant in the 
milk. 

The 7 per cent, of sugar in the milk is what fattens the 
child, and also assists in the heating process. From this 
it can be seen why hand-fed children frequently become 
so large from a diet of condensed milk, which is pre- 
served with sugar. 

The 1.50 per cent, of proteids is the tissue builder and 
strength-giving principle. From this the child receives 
its bone, muscle, nerves, skin, etc. This is the feature 
which varies most from cow's milk in the amount present, 
and consequently is the constituent which gives the child 
the greatest trouble in digesting cow's milk. 

The 0.20 per cent, of salts, being largely lime, is the 
hardening material for the bones. It also assists in the 
blood formation. 

This combination of liquid and solids cannot be imi- 
tated in any laboratory; consequently, there is only one 
ideal food for an infant. 

Raw Milk. 

All nursed children are fed on raw milk. This is a 
very important fact, which humanity, in feeding their 
children, have commonly forgotten, especially those who 
advocate Sterilization and Pasteurization continuously, 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 81 

All animal foods are most easily digested when cooked 
very little. 

Raw milk is more nourishing- than cooked milk, but 
sours too rapidly in hot weather. 



without carefully considering what are the necessities 
demanding these processes. 

The nursing child draws the milk freshly made in its 
natural condition, and at once the process of appropriat- 
ing to the new body commences. No opportunity for 
evaporation of its volatile constituents is offered; no 
chance for fermentation from exposure follows; no de- 
struction of its living cells can occur from cooking it. In 
this natural condition, this easily digested food, free from 
bacteria, enters the delicate stomach of the babe. We 
say easily digested, because this is a nitrogenous food and 
not a starchy one. 

Mark the difference. A nitrogenous animal food is 
most easily digested without cooking, as witness the raw 
dietary of all carnivorous animals, who eat to repletion of 
this food alone. On the contrary, starchy foods, where 
taken as raw grain, must be fed most carefully in small 
amounts. Note the extreme care with which horses and 
cattle have measured out to them this raw starch. Who 
is not familiar with the bad results — colic and death — 
produced in them when this extreme caution is not exer- 
cised ? Even one error causes fermentation and abdominal 
swelling enough to destroy their lives. The carnivorous 
animal suffers no harm from a full meal of raw food; the 
herbivora would be killed every time by such an indul- 
gence in raw starch — grain. 

So it is with our milk. If, while fresh, it were human- 
ized and fed raw to our delicate children, we would have 
much less of the gastric and bowel derangements with 



82 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Boiling- milk kills all bacteria and disease germs, but 
does not improve it in any other way. 



which we have to contend. But this is impossible in 
cities, so we have to approach this condition as nearly as 
possible for success. Like as we feed with impunity raw 
eggs, milk, and meat juices to our typhoid patients, so 
should we remember to feed raw milk to our delicate 
children. With the typhoid condition we have our most 
pronounced digestive disturbance, and where is the parent 
who would not hear with horror the proposal to feed such 
a case with cooked eggs and cooked meats? So should 
we all be impressed with the same horror at feeding 
cooked milk as a constant diet to an infant. At times it 
must be used for short terms (in summer), but only for 
such short terms should it be used. 

We are all familiar with the changes wrought by heat 
in eggs and meat, but as there are not visible such 
changes in milk by heat, we do not think them present. 
Let us look at these changes for a moment, and become 
familiar with them as we are with the hard-boiled egg or 
the roast beef. 

Cooking it does not change 

The 88 per cent, of water; 

The 7 per cent, of sugar; or 

The salts. 
But it does change 

The liquid albumen into a solid like that of the 

egg', 

The live cells in the milk into dead ones like hard 
cooked meat; 

The fat into larger globules, less what is evap- 
orated; and 

The casein into a less digestible form. 



ELEMENTS IN MILK-PREPARATION OF FOODS. 83 

Above all this it drives off all the volatile odors natural 
to milk. 

With these changes the labor of digestion is materially 
increased, and the nutrient properties correspondingly 
decreased. 

Let us once more observe Nature's plan. See how 
invariably nitrogenous, or meat, diet is consumed in the 
raw condition by all birds as well as by many animals. 

Mother's Milk vs. Cow's Milk. 

Mother's Milk is raw food, 

Freshly made, has the 

Proper proportions, is 

Free from bacteria, is the 

Proper temperature, is 

Never exposed to the air, is 

Thoroughly alive, and 

Cannot be infected ' 

Before, reaching the child's stomach. 
Cow's Milk is 

Nearly always old, has 

Been exposed to the air, is placed 

In doubtful vessels, always contains many 

Bacteria, may require 

Sterilizing or pasteurizing, which 

Injures the quality and 

Kills the milk cells. It is made 

From uncertain food. The cows are 

Exposed to the weather and often make 

Irregular and wrong proportions in the milk, 
which 

Varies continually while 



84 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Stable fed cows give the best sample of milk, when pure 
hay and grain are fed alone. 

Fresh raw milk is alive. As such, some of its elements 
enter the infantile blood without being- digested. 



Made from grass, which 

Is affected by the rains in summer and 

By cold and wind in spring and fall, and 

By weeds and herbs, and 

By low, wet, or sour ground at all seasons. 

Life in the Milk. 

All tissues are made of cells, and according to the 
structure required is the type of cell used. Bone, muscle, 
nerve, skin, membrane, each and all, are made from their 
own peculiar cells, invisible to the eye, but clear and 
distinct under the microscope. So with the blood of the 

body; its solids are cells, 






o 



<&k 



Q&°2 






Oj^o o 9. 






89^ 






3&>< 



m 



and from the free sup- 
ply of these healthy cells 
is the body built up and 
all the duties of different 
parts performed. 

With a bountiful supply 
of blood are the breasts of 
the female enabled to se- 
crete milk. Can it for a 
moment be supposed that 
anything dead enters this 
process or its result ? 
Who would for a moment 
entertain such a thought? If we cannot see life in the 
cells forming our skin, will we forsooth say the skin is 
dead? If we cannot 'see life in our nails, do we for a 






Figure 16. 
Healthy cells seen by the microscope 
in healthy milk. 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 85 

Feeding cooked milk entirely 'will produce scurvy in 
some infants. 

moment think them dead? So would we express our be- 
lief in the life of all parts of our body, and all are made 
from the blood. 

Will we for a moment doubt, then, the life of this liquid 
itself because we cannot see its cells move? Or will we 
doubt the life of this other liquid — milk, which receives 
its origin and existence from the blood, because we can 
not see its cells move ? No more right have we to doubt 
the life of milk than we have the life of any other part 
of the body. Why, then, must we slaughter its cells and 
the life they contain before using it to impart fresh life 
and energy to the nursing babe? Certainly, we should 
have good reason for violating Nature's plan before 
doing so. 

Small wonder is it, then, that infants fed on cooked food 
entirely, suffer from scurvy, losing all power in their 
limbs, like the sailors of old, who were continually fed on 
dead food, and also like those sailors recovering at once 
when fed on raw milk, meat juice, and fresh fruits. 

Such cases occur among our infants under a year old. 
and form a sad commentary on the boasted skill which 
dictates their dietary. 

These cases show the necessity of always nursing when 
possible, and when not possible, of so securing a clean 
milk that it can be fed raw, at least during all cool 
weather. Those who own their own cow can, of course, 
feed the milk raw to the infant, in preference to having 
it cooked, even during the warmest weather, when the 
utmost cleanliness is observed with hands and vessels, 
and ice is freely used to keep it from souring. 



86 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Any intelligent mother can learn to humanize cow's 
milk for the baby in a short time. 



Home Humanization of Milk. 

Human milk and cow's milk contain the same ingre- 
dients, but in different proportions. Where the mother's 
milk fails, either in amount or quality, it becomes a neces- 
sity that she at once learn to alter the proportions in 
good cow's milk to suit the digestive organs of her child. 
The day for hap-hazard, guesswork, or friendly advices in 
feeding her infant should for this mother have passed by. 
As she applies her education, thought, and study to all 
the details of her daily occupations, she cannot afford to 
say, "I need not apply these also for the safety of my 
baby." Certainly it is not in human nature to think she 
would for one moment omit this most necessary and 
pleasant duty, when once she recognizes her power and 
ability to perfectly do it. 

It is only within a very few years that this important 
subject has been so simplified that any intelligent mother 
can confidently master the details, and make baby feed- 
ing a success. 

As there are only five elements in either breast or 
cow's milk, and some of these may require no change, the 
mother will find her duties as follows: 

Cow's milk. 

Cream — increase or decrease, as the child's stom- 
ach and bowels demand. 

Proteids — decrease always. 

Sugar — increase always. 

Salts — decreased, by dilution with water. 

Water — increased in diluting the other elements. 
To make those changes requires standard strengths of 



ELEMENTS IN MILK-PREPARATION OF FOODS. 87 

Dilute pure cream and add sugar -water. This makes 
a safe baby food. 

the first and third ingredients — cream and sugar, and then 
the requisite increase or decrease is easily made to suit 
each child. 

Cream. 

The ingredients in cream and milk are practically the 
same, except in the amount of fat, of which there is from 
8 to 12 per cent, in ordinary gravity cream. This 
makes the ingredients in cream — fat, proteids, and salts — 
from two to three times greater than in human milk. 
Sugar is only 1 per cent, when it should be about seven. 

By diluting cream two to three times with boiling 
water, we make the proportions of fats, proteids, and salts 
equal to that in human milk. By then adding enough 
milk sugar to each 7 per cent, in the diluted mixture, we 
have practically a human milk. This mixture will re- 
quire lime water or bicarbonate of soda to make it 
alkaline also, like human milk. 

Cream for domestic purposes may be bought as cream 
or raised by cooling the milk. Where bought it i*s neces- 
sary to know whether it is separated by a Babcock 
separator or by the cooling (or gravity) process. For 
the small amount needed for one child, it is perfectly sat- 
isfactory to buy good milk and raise the cream by the 
cooling or gravity process in a refrigerator. 

One quart of milk placed in a glass Mason jar and then 
in ice water, or upon ice, for four hours will yield ten 
ounces of cream, carrying 8 per cent, of fat. If allowed 
to stand six hours on the ice, it will give six ounces 
of cream having 12 per cent, of fat. This is the better one 
to use. These may be taken off by skimming or by 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Spring- grass and stable feeding make the richest milks. 
Twelve per cent, cream diluted properly is a good baby 
food. It cannot be surpassed. 



siphoning off the milk from the bottom and leaving the 
above amounts of cream in the jar. 

During the spring season, 
when grass is abundant, and 
also when cows are stabled and 
well fed, the time required for 
setting the milk may be reduced, 
respectively, to three and five 
hours, as then the milk is very 
rich. On the contrary, in very 
warm weather, and with very 
thin milk, the time of setting 
may be increased to five and 
seven hours. These changes in 
time will generally secure a 
standard strength of cream. ■ 

The Babcock separator yields 
a cream of about 20 per cent, 
fat, and this must be remem- 
bered when buying cream for 
infant feeding. This is called 
centrifugal cream. Good, rich, 
gravity cream, as bought, carries 
of fat. 

A knowledge of the varying strengths of cream, accord- 
ing to the way of separating it from the milk, is essential, 
and will show any mother the absurdity of feeding all 
makes of cream, in the same amount, to the infant, who 
can digest only an average percentage of this valuable 
ingredient. Only that amount must be fed which will 
make 3 to 4 per cent, average of fat in the food. 




Figure 17. 
This jar shows the cream sep- 
arated from the milk, and the 
siphon in position to draw off 
the milk from the bottom. 



about 16 per cent. 



ELEMENTS IN MILK-PREPARATION OF FOODS. 89 

No infant will grow strong- and vigorous, with a good 
color, on a food short of the proper percentage of fat. 

Amount of Cream for an Infant. 

The exact amount of cream (or fat) which can be fed 
to an infant must be found by the results of digestion. 
As cream is one of Nature's five elements, it must always 
be contained in the dietary. No food short of the proper 
proportion of fat can be correct, or secure the proper 
growth and perfect development of the infant. 

Fat (or cream) makes heat; lubricates the whole 
digestive tract; fills out the hollow places on the surface, 
and makes bone and nerve. It is the element which 
gives the perfect finish and bloom to the child's 
development. 

The correct amount of cream in each case is indicated 
by the bright yellow color of the stools, their soft, mushy 
consistence, and freedom from rank, foul odors. The 
color, odor, and consistence of the stools may be changed 
by excess of proteids, sugar, or starchy foods. 

When too much fat is fed, the infant vomits small 
amounts occasionally, and the stools show the cream in hun- 
dreds of fine white, very small flecks, thoroughly mixed 
with the yellow stool, giving it all an ash-yellow appear- 
ance and a softer consistence. These stools are also more 
frequent. The fat in the cream is the only element which 
will give the bright yellow color to the infant's stools. 
No other diet can imitate this. Absence of this color is 
proof of deficient fat in the infant's food. 

Proteids. 

These are principally the cheesy part of cow's milk. 
As cheese is very difficult to digest, and also very consti- 
pating, so do we find the proteids act likewise in the 



90 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Increase the fat in the food when the stools are pale and 
the infant costive. Fat of cream makes the yellow color 
in the stools. 

Proteid is the cheesy part of the milk, the tissue builder 
in the body, the difficult part to digest. It is needed more 
as the child creeps and walks. 



infant. Great care must be exercised in adjusting this 
difficult dietetic item to the infant's capacity. When fed 
too freely it causes indigestion, vomiting, colic, green, 
slimy, foul stools, and also appears as curds in the stools. 
These curds are white, and may be any size up to that of 
a bean, or even larger. Occasionally they pass through 
the infant and cause no disturbance. This occurs in 
nursing infants. The usual proportion of proteids in 
human milk is 1.50 per cent. A change of a tenth of one 
per cent, will often make the difference between a healthy 
and a sick baby. 

Proteids in Crsani. 

There are from 3 to 4 per cent, of proteids in the dif- 
ferent kinds of cream, so that an addition of three to 
three and a half parts of water will make the probable 
right proportion of fat and proteids for the very young 
infant. This applies to gravity cream standing six hours. 

Proteids supply the element that forms all the different 
tissues in the body, muscles, nerves, ligaments, fascia, 
membranes, skin, meshes of the bones, and ail other parts 
requiring strength and protection. 

They give to the infant 

Strength, Vigor, 

Force, Courage, 

Energy, Resistance. 

As the infant grows older it exercises more, and con- 
sequently can consume more proteids, and thus becomes, 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 91 

There are 12 J^ per cent, of solids in human milk; 7 of 
these are sugar. Though it is more than half of the food, 
it seldom gives any trouble in digesting. 

at a year old often, able to drink milk without dilution. 
This point is reached by gradually adding the skimmed 
milk, and displacing sugar water in the cream mixture. 

Milk Sugar. 

This is the easiest element to digest in human milk or 
in cow's milk. Nature appears to have recognized this fact 
and put more of it in the milk than of any constituent. 
More properly, needing more of it, she made it easier to 
digest. There is 7 per cent, in human milk, 4 per cent, in 
cow's milk, and 4 per cent, in cream. 

. Milk sugar is not at all similar to cane sugar in its 
construction. "While there is this dissimilarity, they act 
very much alike in the human economy, and cane sugar 
is commonly used instead of milk sugar. It is more 
desirable to use the milk sugar when possible. The sweet- 
ening power of cane sugar is very much greater than 
that of milk sugar, so that a little over one-half the 
amount of it will produce the same taste. This must be 
remembered in using it or substituting it for milk sugar. 

Sugar supplies to the infant, economy, heat, and fat. 
This is why infants fed on sweet, proprietary foods 
or milk cured with sugar, like some condensed kinds, 
grow large and fat. Such infants are generally improp- 
erly or unevenly developed, because they usually receive 
too much sugar and too little fat. Among children fed 
with these improper proportions we usually find slug- 
gishness, slow teething and, subsequently, coarse, soft 
bones, showing rickets. 

Sugar-fed children make fine specimens of fat children, 
but usually they lack the bloom of health and energy. 



92 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"When sugar disagrees with the infant, it causes colic, 
gives yellow stools, sour in kind, and scalding to the but- 
tocks. 

The mineral salts in the body correct all excesses of acid 
dietary in vigorous digestive organs. 



The physician can usually recognize the dietary in the 
appearance of the child or its inequalities. 

Infants overfed on sugar are liable to vomit sour, vine- 
gary fluids, and also have loose, sour stools, which scald 
the buttocks. They are very colicky and cross, but soon 
improve when the proportion of sugar is reduced. 

Mineral Salts. 

There are about three times more salts in cow's 
milk than in human. In the process of separating the 
cream from cow's milk, there is some reduction in the 
amount of the water, and consequently in the amount of 
the mineral salts. These salts are then perfectly corrected 
in proportion by the necessary addition of three to four 
parts of boiled water, to secure the proper dilution of 
cream and proteids. 

The mineral salts give the rigidity to the bones and 
the requisite alkalinity to the blood to keep all the fluids 
of the body in perfect solution at all times. As all pro- 
teids, and the tissues they construct, are coagulable in 
acids, it is requisite that a continually alkaline condition 
of the blood be present to neutralize each and every acid 
entering the body, and thus preserve the natural condition 
of the several parts. Were it not for these salts, great 
damage would follow in adults from excesses in sour 

drinks. 

Water in Milk. 

This is the great medium for distributing all the other 
ingredients in the food. Of all the solids, there are 



ELEMENTS IN MILK-PREPARATION OF FOODS. 93 

"Water is continually needed to preserve the proper 
proportions in the infant, especially in the sick one. 

about twelve parts in every hundred of milk; the balance, 
about eighty-eight parts, is water alone — more than seven 
times more water than there is of all other constituents 
combined. 

This enormous excess of water shows that it is no tax 
on the digestive powers, and parents should continually 
bear this in mind with their infants when restless, fever- 
ish, uneasy, or perspiring freely. Water (boiled). should 
be continually offered to these little ones when uncom- 
fortable from any cause whatever, except vomiting. It 
should always be given in preference to their food in sick 
conditions, or where the mother knows they have received 
the usual amount of food. 

In the summer season especially, every mother should 
make it a rule to regularly give the infant water to drink 
between feedings instead of nursing it or giving it the 
feeding bottle. Overdrinking of milk in hot weather 
causes the death of many infants every year. 

Overfeeding of Casein. 

The same bad result on the bowels which follows con- 
tinued nursing of unhealthy mother's milk, also follows 
feeding cow's milk without reducing the casein or proteid 
part of it. This is invariably the case when the mother 
fails to be guided by the character of the infant's stools. 
A persistence in this injudicious course surely and early 
leads to indigestion, vomiting, and looseness of the bowels. 
In these cases the greatest caution must be observed in 
adjusting the food to the infant's digestive capacity. 
When healthy yellow, inodorous stools show this has been 
found, a gradual increase in the amount of food as the 



94 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Correct infant feeding- is only known by the yellow 
stools. Cow's milk must be adjusted to this color always. 
When these are correct, the infant's future is assured. 

The infant's milk is the same food as the parents' meat. 
It must not be considered as drink. 



stools allow it, will be permissible, and each increase 
must be proved by a two days' trial before trying 
another one, or before allowing any other change in the 
character of the food. 

Parents cannot too strongly realize the great impor- 
tance of careful adjustment of cow's milk to the digestive 
power of the infant. The gastritis and fever produced 
by injudicious milk feeding so often destroy the future 
digesting power of the infant, that physicians dread this 
result. The future life of the infant is so risked that this 
should always receive the closest attention. Continu- 
ally in hot weather do physicians witness deaths from, 
just such errors. With the proper adjustment of milk to 
produce yellow, inodorous, pasty stools, there is perfect 
health, growth, and comfort through all seasons. 

Occasionally a foolish parent or friend will recommend 
allowing the infant all the milk it demands when thirsty, 
as on a hot day. Beware! This is poison itself. Many 
times has the writer witnessed the result of this fatal 
error. Fortunate for the child who can vomit and reject 
this poisonous load. For the one who cannot thus dis- 
gorge, a more serious result follows — diarrhea, fever, 
convulsions, and possibly death itself. 

Milk-fed infants should always have their extra de. 
mands for drink satisfied with boiled water. The amount 
of milk fed daily is like the father's beefsteak — a fixed 
quantity, no more, no less, each and every day. And 
why should it not be so? Are they not the same kind of 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 95 

Only by the stools can the mother be guided in feeding 
the infant. She must learn this yellow literature. 

The amount of every element in milk is a constantly 
varying quantity. 



food? Certainly they are, and there is as much harm in 
overfeeding one as there is in overfeeding the other. 

Mixing the Infant's Food. 

Having now considered the natural elements of infant- 
ile food and been compelled, from necessity only, to 
adopt an imitation of it, not having good human milk 
itself, we come to the mixing of the different elements in 
cow's- milk in the proportion suitable to the infant requir- 
ing it, not according to any fixed rule. 

We must not forget the immature or perhaps dam- 
aged condition of the digestive glands in the little one. 
It becomes the duty of the mother or nurse to intelli- 
gently read the digestion of the fat, proteid, and sugar 
in each and every stool. The salts and water will always 
be properly received and require no thought or study, as 
they are never changed by digestion. 

This careful reading of the stools every day means the 
future success of the infantile growth and development; 
its neglect means pain, emaciation, dwarfing, deformity, 
and often death. 

As we always require a slightly alkaline food like hu- 
man milk, we must not forget that cow's milk is nearly 
always slightly acid in reaction. A fair proportion of 
lime water or bicarbonate of soda will give the necessary 
alkalinity to our mixture, and must be used always in the 
proportion of one teaspoonful to every two ounces of 
food. 



96 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 




Ingredients Needed for Correct Food. 

We will now consider the ingredients needed for proper 
mixing of the infant's food. These are: 
Cream. 
Milk. 

Sugar of milk. 

Lime water or bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). 
Water (boiled). 
To obtain the cream and milk, put a quart of good fresh 
milk in a Mason jar, cover with a napkin, and stand it in a 
deep dish filled with cold water in which 
are two teaspoonfuls of common salt. 
After fifteen minutes, when well cooled, 
screw on the top with the rubber, and 
place it in the refrigerator. In six 
hours, fresh milk will divide from the 
cream, leaving eight ounces of creamand 
top milk having 10 to 12 per cent, of fat. 
The skim or bottom milk, twenty-four 
ounces, can be siphoned off with two 
glass rods and a connecting rubber 
tube (Figure 18), and kept in another 
glass jar. Where milk is shipped from 
the country, it is ten or twelve hours 
old, and the cream and milk will sepa- 
rate in two hours, if not sterilized or 
pasteurized before shipping. In milk 
thus treated, the cream will not separate. 
The mother should buy four drachms 
of milk sugar and have it placed in a 
glass half -ounce ointment jar (Figure 
19) by the druggist. This will about fill the jar, and the 
latter can in future be used as the milk sugar measure. 



Figure 18. Milk Si- 
phon. Put the short 
rod down in the milk 
jar, then draw the 
milk till it fills the 
long rod. By quickly 
lowering this below 
the bottom of the jar, 
all the milk will run 
out as needed. 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 97 



The healthy stools of hand-fed infants are formed 
always. They are not the soft, pasty character seen in 
nursing infants. 

As stomachs have varying digestive powers and milk is 
a changeable strength, no fixed mixture can be used in 
feeding infants. 




Figure 19. Sugar Measure Jar. 

The lime gradually dissolves 



Lime water is made by 
adding a lump of lime about 
the size of an orange to a 
quart of boiled water. As 
water will only dissolve 
enough lime, it cannot be 
made too strong, no matter 
how much lime is used or 
how long it stands. It should 
be made fresh every week or 
two by adding fresh water 
with renewed waters. 

When preparing food for infants, mothers must 
always remember that there are two distinct classes of 
infants — the healthy, with perfect digestive organs, and 
the delicate, or those infants whose digestive glands are 
w T eak or have been irritated and partly destroyed by 
unsuitable food. In the latter, the stomach and bowels 
are easily disturbed. 

The intelligent mother will find little difficulty in 
adjusting good, pure food to the different ages in healthy 
children, the yellow, inodorous, mustard-formed stools 
being a proof of her success. 

With the delicate infant she cannot tell how many of 
the digestive glands have been damaged or destroyed till 
she tests them with the following foods, and reads their 
capacity for digestion in the amount of healthy yellow — 



98 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

In preparing- the first feeding-, always use a weak mix- 
ture. Remember, the delicate infant's stomach may be 
only one month old, though the body be six or eight times 
more than this. 



not unhealthy green, slimy, foul, watery, mixed colored, 
or constipated stools. 

In direct proportion to the amount of unhealthy green, 
slimy, foul stool will the mother estimate the damage to 
the digestive glands and intestinal surface, and thus 
reduce the strength and amount of the food accordingly. 
By this view of the child's digestive power will she ascer- 
tain its true digestive age — not its real age — and then 
prepare its food to agree with such an age. This method 
will frequently demonstrate a delicate child of six to 
twelve months old with only enough digestive^ glandular 
secretions for a healthy infant of one month. 

As cream contains all the ingredients of milk, and 
nearly in the same proportion, except three times too 
much fat and proteid, experience shows that it makes the 
most reliable basis of infantile food. The following dilu- 
tions show the proportions of ingredients and the probable 
age or weight of healthy infants for which it is suited. 
As sugar must always be added to these mixtures, noesti 
mate is made of the amount of it in each dilution. Here 
it is only requisite to note the amount of fat and proteid 
(cheese). 

No. 1. Cream, 6 teaspoonfuls, boiled water, 1 pint, 
make a mixture (containing 0.50 per cent, fat and 0.17 
per cento proteid) suitable for an infant newly born, of 
six to eight pounds in weight, or a delicate infant three to 
four months old. First add two measures of milk sugar 
to the boiling water. 

No. 2. Cream, 4 tablespoonfuls, boiled water, 1 pint, 
make a mixture (containing 1.35 per cent fat and 0,45 



ELEMENTS IN MILK-PREPARATION OF FOODS. 99 

Always use the same measures and the same care in 
preparing the food. This work should never be hurried. 



per cent, of proteid) suitable for a healthy infant eight 
or nine pounds in weight, two weeks old, or a delicate 
one, four to six months old. First add two and one-half 
measures of milk sugar to the boiling water. 

No. 3. Cream, 8 tablespoonfuls, boiled water, 1 pint, 
make a mixture (containing 2.40 per cent, of fat and 0.80 
per cent, of proteid) suitable for a healthy infant nine to 
twelve pounds in weight, one to two months old, or a 
delicate one, five to eight months old. Add two and one- 
third measures of milk sugar to the boiling water. 

No. 4. Cream, 10 tablespoonfuls, boiled water, 15 
ounces, make a mixture (containing 3 per cent, of fat and 
1 per cent, of proteid) suitable for a healthy infant eleven 
to fifteen pounds in weight, two to four months old, or a 
delicate one, six to ten months old. Add two and one- 
fourth measures of milk sugar to the boiling water. 

No. 5. Cream, -| pint, boiled water, 16 ounces, make 
a mixture (containing 4 per cent, of fat 'and 1.33 per 
cent, of proteid) suitable for a healthy infant thirteen 
to eighteen pounds in weight, three to six months old, or a 
delicate one, twelve to fifteen months old. Add one and 
five-sixths measures of milk sugar to the boiling water. 

To each of the above mixtures at least two tablespoonfuls 
of lime water should be added. Cane sugar may be used 
temporarily in the above mixtures, but only half the 
amount required of milk sugar is needed. 

When properly selected, the above mixtures should give 
healthy yellow stools of good odor and formed consist- 
ence. The average amount fed daily should be: 

10 to 15 ounces on the seventh day. 

20 to 30 ounces on the thirtieth day. 

LofC. 



100 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The happy baby shows it is properly fed m both the 
quality and quantity of its diet. 



22 to 36 ounces at three months. 

28 to 36 ounces at four months. 

36 to 40 ounces at six months. 

40 to 45 ounces at ten months. 

45 to 50 ounces at fourteen months. 

50 ounces at eighteen months. 

After an infant passes the second month, if the stools 
are healthy, the mother may commence adding a table- 
spoonful of the skimmed milk to the whole mixture, and 
watch carefully to see if any colic follows, or slime and 
curds appear in the stools. If the stools remain correct 
in color, odor and consistence, a second spoonful may be 
added after a few more days, if the infant remains happy 
while awake and sleeps his full amount daily. If the 
infant vomits freely, disgorging the food in large 
quantities, it is overfed and should receive less at each 
feeding. 

If it keeps vomiting small amounts of a spoonful or two, 
and is restless, particularly if the bowels are loose and 
yellow, it is receiving too much cream or sugar. 

If the stools scald the buttocks or the vomit is sour, 
the child is receiving too much sugar. 

Not more than two tablespoonfuls of the skimmed milk 
should be added to any one of these formulae before pass- 
ing to the next one. In Formula No. 5, the proportion 
of cream is the same as in human milk, and all increases 
after this is fed must be made from the skimmed milk, 
which only increases the proteids and sugar. The increase 
of proteids is needed as the child becomes older and more 
active. It should be made by changing one tablespoonful 
of the skimmed milk for one of the boiled water in 



ELEMENTS IN T MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 101 

After the fourth month combine boiled cereals with the 
infant's food, if the stools show good digestion and regu- 
larity. 



making the morning mixture for the whole day's feeding. 
Every change should be governed entirely by the healthy 
color, odor, and consistence of the stools, the happiness 
of the infant in the daytime, and its comfortable sleep at 
night. Without these favorable conditions any increase 
is dangerous. 

As the utmost strength of the food should, never exceed 
the eight ounces of cream in Formula No. 5, and half 
this amount of skimmed milk to twelve ounces of water at 
ten months old, the tablespoon additions of milk should 
be made only oitce every week or. ten days, as the stools 
allow it, till this proportion is reached. 

After ten months old, the object of the mother should 
be, in a healthy, strong child, to gradually change 
skimmed milk for the boiling water till the formula reads : 
Cream, 8 ounces; skimmed milk, 8 ounces; boiled water, 
8 ounces. 

After a year old, the infant's digestive power gradually 
increases till plain milk can be fed, usually at fifteen 
months old. 

No healthy infant should be confined to an exclusively 
milk diet, except during the early months of life. The 
mother should commence by substituting a tablespoonful 
of some starch water (Remedies Nos. 2, 4, 5) in the day's 
food of healthy infants at four to seven months old. By 
watching the stools carefully, she will know when the in- 
fant digests it properly, and she can add another spoonful 
with safety. In this way the Boiling water is gradually 
replaced by one of the starch waters or by a starch jelly 
(Remedy No. 3). The oatmeal starch or jelly should 
always be preferred where it does not loosen the bowels. 



102 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Nose first, eyes second, and fingers last, are all required 
in examining- the stools. 



Rice or barley water is suitable for loose bowels, or a 
combination of these with oatmeal water may make nat- 
ural stools. 

After the food for the day is prepared each morning* 
it should be emptied into as many bottles as there are 
feedings in the twenty-four hours. The necks should be 
wiped dry, stoppered with absorbent cotton plugs, pas- 
teurized or not, according to the season of the year, and 
placed in the refrigerator or ice-box till needed for 
feeding. 

In delicate children, where the digestive glands have 
not been too much damaged by improper feeding, the 
same principles and formulae must be used. In these 
infants only the first, or weaker ones, are successful, and 
the mother must exercise the greatest vigilance of nose, 
eyes, and fingers, to detect in the gases and stools any 
imperfect work in the digestive organs. Only by her 
correct observation of these will she be able to gradually 
increase the amount and strength of this child's food. 
Scarcely ever will she be able here to supplant the boiled 
water by skimmed milk. Rather must she aim at nour- 
ishing this infant with weak cream mixtures, gradually 
adding starch waters and increasing the strength of the 
latter most rapidly, but never making more than one 
change or addition in any two days. By observing these 
rules and precautions most rigidly, those delicate chil- 
dren who have failed, with all kinds of foods, to make any 
advance in weight or comfort, can nearly always be 
brought into a thrifty, happy condition. For the worst 
of these cases, Remedy No. 26^, is particularly appli- 
cable. 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 103 

Cross children, "with loose bowels, will die if the diet is 
not corrected in proper time. 

There is a small percentage of cases among those deli- 
cate children who apparently have inherited marked 
digestive weakness, and are not amenable to any treat- 
ment. There is another class, born healthy and wdio 
thrive well for some weeks or months, but who, through 
sickness or some continuous error in dietary, are so dam- 
aged that they have not enough healthy gastric glands 
left to digest the requisite amount of food to sustain life. 
These infants gradually drift downward in weight, flesh, 
color, and strength, till they become only marasmic skele- 
tons, and finally disappear through some acute pulmo- 
nary or abdominal complication. Mothers must not be 
discouraged by these failures. The first are inevitables, 
the last are proofs of human inability to break aw T ay from 
inherited belief in a necessary cross era in infantile life, 
and a loose, foul condition of stools during teething or 
during the time popularly allotted thereto. These cross 
and loose conditions are allowed to continue till the 
infant's ability to appropriate food is entirely lost. 
There is only one end to all such cases. 



104 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Table showing the Strengths of Cream and Milk 
Mixtures. 







Cream, 


Milk, 


Water, 




Fat, 


Proteid, 






Ounces. 


Ounces. 


Ounces. 




Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


No. 


1 


- 6 





16 


= 


0.50 


0.16f 


No. 


2 - 


2 





16 


_— 


1.35 


0.45 


No. 


3 


- 3 





16 


— 


1.89 


0.63 


No. 


4 - 


3 


1 


16 


= 


2.00 


0.80 


No. 


5 


- 3 


2 


16 


= 


2.10 


0.95 


No. 


6 - 


3 


3 


16 


= 


2.18 


1.09 


No. 


7 


- 3 


4 


16 


= 


2.26 


1.22 


No. 


8 - 


4 





16 




2.40 


0.80 


No. 


9 


- 4 


2 


16 


= 


2.54 


1.09 


No. 


10 - 


1 


4 


16 


— 


2.84 


1.33 


No. 


11 


- 5 





15 




3.00 


1.00 


No. 


12 - 


5 


2 


14 


= 


3.24 


1.33 


No. 


13 


* - 6 


2 


14 


= 


3.27 


1.45 


No. 


14 - 


8 





14 


;■ 


4.00 


1.33 



The above table is intended to show how easily the 
addition of a little milk to a cream mixture will make it 
unsuitable for infantile feeding. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8, 11, and 14 
are pure cream dilutions, and all show three parts of fat 
to one of proteid, the usual proportions in human milk. 
The addition of- milk in Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 13, 
has raised the proteid too rapidly, so that this three-to- 
one proportion is destroyed. While some strong infants 
might stand this rapid increase in the proteid, the most 
of them would soon suffer from nausea, colic, green stools, 
and diarrhea on such diet. 

The gradual increase in strength is best obtained 
by the addition of cream, rather than milk, to Nos. 1, 2. 
3, 8, 11, and 14. Less than one-third of the amount, in 
the additions of milk, is required where cream is used to 
give the same proportionate increase in fat, and one-third 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 105 

Predigestion is valuable treatment for a limited time. It 
must be carefully done, to avoid the bitter, nauseous taste. 



of the milk increase in proteid. This always makes a 
safe and reliable method of increasing strengths of food 
as infants grow older. 

Only when infants are eight to twelve months old, 
strong and active, is it safe to add milk to the food, and 
thus rapidly increase the running element, proteid, in 
their diet. For such strong, hearty infants only, are 
those numbers with milk additions in the foregoing table 
constructed. 

Such increases by milk should always be done in cold 
or cool weather. It is never safe to make them in the 
summer season. 

Predigestion. 

In some weak and delicate stomachs it becomes, neces- 
sary to partly digest milk before feeding it. This, of 
course, applies to children who can only take milk as a 
a diet — generally to those under six months old. Such 
children are, of ' course, hand fed, and they are mostly 
those whose digestive organs have been badly damaged 
by unsuitable food, and also unsuitable quantities of food. 
They are suffering from these effects, and their milk must 
be made as easily digestible as possible, so that no vomit- 
ing or foul stools will follow feeding. Unfortunately, 
this process requires skill and attention to prevent spoil- 
ing the food, or developing the bitter taste which appears 
when carried too far. Children soon refuse this predi- 
gested food, seeming to form a dislike for it. It can be 
used for a limited time only. (For Predigestion, see 
Kemedies Nos. 27, 28, 30.) 

Where the child refuses to take the predigested milk or 
other food, an effort must then be made to aid the digestive 

8 



106 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The free use of digestive assistants to assist weak stom- 
achs in ordinary health, or during- any sickness, should 
never be omitted. 

The addition of malt extract to the starchy food for 
weak digestive organs should never be omitted. It should 
be mixed at blood heat, and just before feeding. 



power in the stomach by giving the digestive assistants 
(Remedy No. 43) just before or after each feeding. 
Mothers should remember that these assistants are not 
poisonous, and should be given freely where the stomach 
accepts of them. Their free use relieves the distress and 
rapidly strengthens the digestive power of the infant. 
So long as they show a material assistance to the child, 
they should be continued. This assistance is shown by 
the increased comfort, happiness, and sleep, and also by 
the greater yellow in the stools. 

Substitutes for Milk in Tender Stomachs. 

Where a child's digestion has been damaged so that it 
cannot digest cow's milk, and is still too young to be 
fed other than nitrogenous food, whey, egg water, 
or meat juice (Remedies Nos. 14, 8, and 26) will some- 
times succeed as a substitute. A child six months 
old will take eight ounces of whey, the whites of one or 
two eggs, or the juice of one-half to one pound of round 
beefsteak daily. Of course, the amount taken must 
always be adjusted to the child's digestive power, being 
careful not to cause nausea or diarrhea. 

Efforts should be made early to feed oatmeal or rice 
water (Remedies Nos. 2 and 5) in small quantities to 
these children, as they are very liable to become rickety 
and deformed from insufficient nourishment. These starch 
waters (oatmeal and rice) must be boiled at least three 



ELEMENTS IN MILK— PREPARATION OF FOODS. 107 

"Whey with well boiled rice or oatmeal makes a valuable 
food where milk disagrees with the digestion. 



hours to make them digest easily, else they will cause 
diarrhea. This feature in cooking cereals of all kinds for 
weak digestive organs can never be overlooked without 
disastrous results to the patient. Half a teaspoonful of 
extract of malt should be mixed with them also, just before 
feeding. 

The suitability of these substitutes must be judged 
by the perfect rest which the child enjoys and the healthy 
character of the stools. For their continued success 
we must carefully watch the child's growth, weight, and 
development, as at times a suitable food gives comfort 
but not growth, on account of the insufficient nourish- 
ment it contains. An error on this side is made occa- 
sionally by an overzealous nurse or parent, but in the 
great majority of cases, overfeeding is the error to be 
dreaded. 

Whey as a Food. 

In the tender and weak stomachs of very young infants, 
and also in older ones who have been damaged by inju- 
dicious feeding, it becomes necessary often to remove 
the casein from the milk before feeding it. As this is 
the part difficult to digest, it must at times be removed or 
predigested. 

Removing it is easily accomplished by the use of 
liquid rennet, or pepsin (Remedy No. 43). As this 
rennet, or pepsin, assists in digesting the milk, it is an 
advantage to the food -in delicate children. For this 
purpose milk should be at least twelve hours old, but 
never Jersey milk, as this always carries an excess of 
cream, which frequently nauseates and purges. Full 
directions accompany the liquid rennet, showing how to 



108 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A mother should be liberal in the use of good nipples, 
so a3 to avoid too rapid feeding-. They require great car 3 
to keep them clean. 



use it. Generally, rice or barley water can be added to 
this whey, after the yellow stools show that the infant 
digests it thoroughly. 

Bottles and Nipples. 

In nursing bottles, always select the one most easily 
cleaned. Those with wide mouths and graded sides are 
preferable. The simpler the. shape and proportions, the 
better. 

Nipples should slip on the neck of the bottle without 
any intervening tube. Plain black nipples with an air 
vent are the best. They should be shaped so they can be 
turned inside out and scrubbed easily. All tubing and 
corks must be avoided, as they are always poisonous and 
unsafe. They cannot be kept clean, and thus cause sick- 
ness. It is important that the holes in the nipples should 
not be too large, as thus the milk runs too rapidly. The 
child should be compelled to work for its food and take 
fifteen to twenty minutes in drawing it. Certainly, never 
should more be placed in the bottle than the child is safe 
in drinking. If any is left, it must be thrown out, as it 
is not safe to heat this again for next feeding. 

Immediately after nursing, both bottle and nipple 
should be scrubbed and cleansed thoroughly and kept in 
soda or boracic acid water till used again. This scrub- 
bing is a most important feature and requires plenty of 
soap and good brushes to do it effectually. The smallest 
speck of milk left on either nipple or bottle will infect 
and spoil the next milk passing through either of them. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FOODS. 



Materials Needed for Correct Feeding in the 
First Year. 

FIRST YEAR'S DIET. 

Before three months, -when very dry, 
Diluted cream "will stop the cry; 
From three to six, -when in a fix, 
Cream and sweet milk be sure you mix; 
From six to nine, whene'er he whine, 
Cream, milk, and starch will suit him fine ; 
From nine to twelve, he'll creep and delve, 
But meal and milk he'll never shelve. 



For the Healthy Child Under Six Months cf a^e 
are required: 

Pure milk. 

Raw milk in cool weather. 

Pasteurized milk in hot weather. 

These are used in the form of 
Cream for yellow stools, with enough of 
Skimmed milk till curds show in the stools. 
Milk sugar. 
Lime water. 
Boiled water. 
Well boiled oatmeal starch (Remedies Nos. 2 and 

■4) occasionally for some children in the fifth or 

sixth month 

109 



110 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Too much cream causes vomiting" and loose bowels. 

Too much sugar causes colic, vomiting, and soft, sour, 
scalding stools. 



Foe the Healthy Child Over Six Months and Less 
Than a Year are required: 
Pure milk. 

Raw milk in cool weather. 
Pasteurized milk in hot weather. 

These are used in the form of 
Cream for yellow stools, with enough of 
Skimmed milk till curds show in the stools, 
Cane sugar. 
Lime water. 
Boiled water. 
Starch, in the form of oatmeal, rice, or barley 

water (Remedies Nos. 2 and 4), well boiled for 

three hours and added to the milk as stools show 

perfeckdigestion. 

For Feeding to Assist Nursing. 

Under Six Months. 

Pure gravity cream diluted from two to four times 
till the stools show perfect yellow color. 

Milk sugar to a mild sweetness — one teaspoon to 
about three ounces, or half that amount of cane 
sugar. This amount of sugar may be increased 
for fattening some children with benefit. 
Over Six Months. 

Pure cream diluted two to four times, as shown 
necessary by the stools. 

Starch— well boiled oatmeal, rice, or barley — 
diluted as the stools show necessary for perfect 
digestion. Sweeten and flavor well with the 
cream. 



FOODS. Ill 

Safe feeding" will allow only one change or addition in 
two days. In this time green stools show any errors re- 
sulting from the last change. 



Make Only One Change Every Two Days or More. 

Only one change in food, or one addition to the food, 
or increase in the food can be made at a time. Every 
change or addition must be proved by healthy stools 
before another can safely be made. This requires forty- 
eight hours. This interval of time shows all errors and 
secures correct work. By observing this rule, success can 
be always secured where that is possible. 

By making more than one change at a time, or not 
waiting forty-eight hours till the stools prove the correct- 
ness of the last change, confusion and consequent failure 
are sure to follow. 

•By commencing with a dilute cream which is well 
digested, and working up gradually in forty-eight hour 
steps, the child's correct capacity is soon found without 
making errors or doing damage. 

What is Pure Milk? 

Milk made in your own stable or barn, or 

Milk made in the country, at least 

Twenty miles from the city, or 

Any brewery, distillery, or wet goods factory, 

Drawn by clean hands 

Into clean vessels 

From clean cows 

Fed on clean food 

In clean stables, and 

Cooled in clean water, 

Put into clean bottles, 

Packed in clean ice, and 

Delivered by clean milkmen. 



112 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Never buy milk made in or near a city. It is often made 
from the waste products of the city, and is unhealthy. 

Human milk excels all foods in ease of digestion and 
ability to produce a perfect child. 

The nearer any milk approaches human milk in its com- 
position, the finer child will it produce. 



Can Pure Milk be Made in the City? 

In your oion barn ? Yes. 

Outside of it ? No. 

Your child's life is too sacred for you to tamper with 
it. Make your own milk if you have a barn. Otherwise 
spare no trouble or expense in finding the best country- 
made milk that can be secured. Do not buy Jersey 
milk. Jersey calves do not thrive well on their own 
mother's milk. 

Order of Precedence in Infants' Foods. 

First Year". 
1. Mother's milk. 
2= Wet nurse's milk. 

3. Diluted crearn„ 

4. Humanized cow's milk. 

5. Raw cow's milk. 

6. Pasteurized cow's milk. 

7. Sterilized cow's milk. 

8= Cream with oatmeal, rice, or barley water for 

tender stomachs. 
9. Cow's milk with rice, barley, or oatmeal jelly. 

10. Cow's milk with rice, barley, or oatmeal porridge. 

11. Meat broths with rice or barley. 

Second Year. 
Spoon foods and pure milk drinks should be com- 
menced early in the second year, when once the digestive 



FOODS. 113 

No hand-fed child is as fine and vigorous as it would be 
on healthy human milk. 



organs have demonstrated their ability to digest starches. 
Then the different flours and grains, well cooked, can be 
used in rotation or alternated with boiled or baked pota- 
toes. Also broths, with bread, crackers, and potatoes 
may form the staple of one meal daily, At fifteen to 
eighteen months the different meats, in small amounts, 
may be given to healthy children, with potatoes or bread, 
always watching the result of the dietary on the stools, 
and stopping any food which appears in them or causes 
green, slimy, watery, or foul stools. As the digestive 
power varies greatly, no distinct dietary can be pre- 
scribed. Only the general outline can be indicated, and 
this proven to be suitable in each case. Children 
who have been very sick will, of course, be much later 
and slower in digesting a solid diet than those who have 
always been healthy. Most generally this power is 
proportioned to the development of teeth in healthy 
children. 

A fair amount of fruit, oranges, peaches, plums, 
prunes, grapes, or roast apple should be fed during the 
last half of the second year, carefully watching the 
digestive results with each fruit. 

Amount of Food. 

Herein lies, perhaps, the greatest source of trouble in 
feeding infants. The natural impulse of adults is to feed 
the child whenever the little one cries for it, or in fact 
for anything or for any cause. Four out of every five 
parents do it. and ninety -nine out of every one hundred 
friends always say the infant is hungry when it cries from 
any cause whatever, from an earache to sleepiness. 



114 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Overfeeding" causes vomiting- and green stools. An 
overfed child cannot sleep continuously. 

Cow's milk causes inflammation of the stomach in 
infants when not properly diluted. 



This hungry idea is applied to both nursing and hand- 
fed children, but most particularly the latter. It is not 
so easy for the nursing mother to make this mistake, as 
she always knows when the child has had a good meal, but 
even she frequently has fallen into the erroneous habit 
of nursing the child every time it cries. This is never 
advantageous to the infant, and frequently is an injury, 
as it does not allow time for the stomach to empty itself 
before new food is introduced. As the secreting power of 
the mother is generally limited and not in excess of the 
child's ability to digest all she can give it, we do not very 
often find damage from overfeeding of nursing infants 
except during the first two or three months^ while ^the 
child is small. 

In hand-fed children, overfeeding is the rule. So 
common is this that we have come to look for it always, 
and it is an agreeable surprise to find the amount of 
food properly gauged to the child's digestive capacity. 
In these overfed cases, the general complaint is crossness 
and vomiting in the young infant, with irregular disturbed 
sleep. As the child becomes older, these symptoms 
continue with unabated force, and colic with diarrheal 
disturbances is usually added thereto. The result is 
generally a badly disturbed household, or even a whole 
neighborhood may suffer from the continual crying of 
the child. 

Even under these strained conditions of comfort and 
rest, the mother will generally receive from six to twelve 
recommendations daily for other and more food, from her 



FOODS. 115 

Only the mother or nurse "who has had bitter experience 
in hand feeding is competent to advise on the amount of 
food for an infant. 

The happy, comfortable condition is the only proof of 
perfect nutrition. 



friends and neighbors. Most of these are impelled, by 
their natural kindness to a child, to think it must be 
hungry or it would not cry so much. Only the mother 
who, with her own child, has gone through this siege of 
crying and loss of sleep, gives the correct advice. She 
knows at once that the error is overfeeding, and the only 
escape is by reducing the food to the child's capacity for 
perfect and comfortable digestion. Then, and not till 
then, will the child resume its natural sleep and its happy 
laughing, playing habits of the waking hours. 

The healthy, well digested yellow stools, free from foul 
odors, indicate when proper feeding is reached; and mothers 
must remember that with these stools the best growth 
and development are always secured. 

The infant who sleeps well and comfortably shows also 
that enough of this food is given. 

The healthy stools of the hand-fed infant are always 
formed and drier than those of the nursing infant. 

Dilute Food. 

Parents should always remember that Nature has made 
the infant's stomach to digest only a very dilute food. 
This is shown in the proportion of water there is in either 
human or cow's milk. Milk always carries nearly eighty- 
eight parts of water in every one hundred; and the remain- 
ing twelve solid parts that are in the milk must be the most 
suitable and easily digested kind, in order to have good 
development and a successful child. This is amply 



116 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Nature is not an inebriate. She dilutes her drink 
always. Twelve of solids to eighty- eight of water is her 
motto. 



proven in feeding cow's milk, which is equally dilute with 
water, but in which the solids, though the same, are in 
different proportions. How much greater, then, must be 
the necessity of using a dilute food, when we try to imi- 
tate Nature's plan, and especially when we do not use the 
same, or as good a quality o~f food. Errors continually 
arise from using a too concentrated food, and a hundred 
deaths occur from overfeeding, for every child that shows 
any evidence of injury from underfeeding. 

Proteid Milks and Foods. 

As proteids are generally the most difficult element to 
digest in reliable infant foods, it is well to look at the 
proportions of this element in each of them. A glance 
at these proportions will generally give any mother an 
idea of the direction she must take in changing from one 
food to another. 

Every mother should carefully prove, by first reducing 
the strength of the infant's food, that the curds in the 
stool, with slime and colic, are not due to overfeeding. 
Having demonstrated that, in this way, by diluting the 
food and thus reducing the amount, she cannot remove 
the curds, slime, and colic, she should then select a food 
containing less proteid. This will not always correct the 
digestive difficulty, but it will do so in the majority of 
cases. 

Mother's milk contains - 1.50 per cent, of proteid. 

Cow's milk contains - - 4.00 per cent, of proteid. 

Cream contains - - - 3.50 per cent, of proteid. 

Cream (properly diluted for feed- 
ing) contains - - 1.16 per cent, of proteid. 



FOODS. 117 

Be-w are of proteid, or the cheesy food. This *is what 
sickens the infant most frequently. 

Diluted cream must be the foundation of the infant's 
food. Milk can be added gradually as the stools show 
perfect digestion and no curds. 



Whey contains - - - 0.86 per cent, of proteid. 

Koumiss contains - - - 2.06 per cent, of proteid. 

Beef juice (expressed) contains 2.90 per cent, of proteid. 
Beef juice (cold water process, 

1 pound to 8 ounces) contains 3.00 per cent, of proteid. 
Beef broth contains - - 1.02 per cent, of proteid. 

Barley water contains - - 0.09 per cent, of proteid. 

Kice water contains - - 0.09 per cent, of proteid. 

Oat water contains - - 0.10 per cent, of proteid. 

By diluting the cream with boiled water, the amount 
of proteid can be reduced to any percentage desired. 
Where this reduction does not bring success and comfort 
in the infant, the inference is that the fat in the cream also 
irritates the digestive organs. The mother should then 
select whey as the food next most suitable. As whey has 
only 0.65 per cent, of fat, it must be reinforced with some 
rice or oat (starch) water to nourish the infant suc- 
cessfully. 

Where whey and starch water do not succeed or are not 
enough, then the meat juices should be added in part to 
the daily dietary. In doing this, the mother should note 
that the raw beef juices have about three times more pro- 
teid than the cooked one has, and consequently are more 
likely to loosen the bowels. 

Mothers should not be advised into using patent foods, 
as these, when dilute enough for easy digestion, do not 
nourish the infant sufficiently, and rickets with a large 
abdomen surely follows. 



118 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Be sure your dilute food contains ALL the elements of 
nutrition. Only milk is safe. Condensed milk and patent 
foods are always short on cream. 



Easily Digested but Unsuccessful Food. 

Great care must be exercised that the mother does not 
purchase the child's present comfort at the cost of its 
subsequent success. This occurs when she selects a food, 
such as condensed milk, which is easily digested by the 
child, but which does not supply all the ingredients nec- 
essary for successful growth and development. With 
such foods, generally those rich in sugar, we find in time 
that the infant becomes rickety or scorbutic. Generally, 
enormous quantities of these foods must be taken to satisfy 
the child, and this causes dilatation of the stomach, 
a large abdomen, and subsequent weak digestion. 

Any food, to be a success equal to Nature's plan, must 
carry Nature's elements in proper proportion. When 1 it 
does not, the future health and strength of the child pay 
for the deficiency. If it inherits any weakness from its 
ancestors, this insufficient food will surely develop it in 
the child. 

Home-Made Foods. 

There are only two articles that can be used for infant 
feeding — milk and starch. Nature has supplied us with 
no other ingredients capable of being used for this pur- 
pose. True it is that egg albumen and meat juice are 
occasionally used as temporary expedients in sick chil- 
dren or those damaged by injudicious feeding, but they 
cannot be used for a constant diet, neither can they be 
prepared as safe, marketable infant foods. 

Starch is the one ingredient upon which food manu- 
facturers depend for their stock, and on which they exer- 
cise their skill in preparing their foods. Nor is their 



FOODS. * 119 

Diluted cream, with milk and well boiled oatmeal 
starch, are always reliable after the first few months. 



skill needed or used in any way other than any kitchen 
supplies and any good cook uses daily. Long continued 
heat changes flours and grains of all kinds into a more 
digestible form, and that is all manufacturers do or can 
do. They select the flour of wheat, barley, or oats 
according to their ideas of suitability. As all grains are 
composed mostly of starch, it matters little which is taken, 
as the varying quantity of fat in the grain is largely 
disseminated in the cooking process. Generally, the price 
of the grain settles the selection of the starch. 

Chemistry shows us that cooking changes starch con- 
siderably, and that those changes resemble the first steps 
in the process of digesting starch in the strong, healthy 
stomach. To be effective, the cooking requires to be done 
perfectly, for a long time. Baking and boiling are the 
only ways of doing the cooking. Baking is a limited 
process, as the oven soon evaporates moisture and burns 
anything in it. Boiling is an interminable process and can 
be continued as long as necessary to produce the proper 
change in the starch. Hence, for effective and successful 
preparation of any grain or flour for a delicate or weak 
stomach, either in child or adult, the cooking can only 
be perfectly and successfully done by boiling. 

This boiling of starch or grains must be vigorous, 
strong boiling, not simmering or soaking, and requires 
from three to four hours for perfect results. True it is that 
flours do not require so long as whole grains, but all 
kinds of starch are improved by long cooking. Where can 
this be so perfectly done as at home, where we get the fresh 
article daily and are sure the cooking has not been 
slighted? Is not this infinitely better than trusting this 



120 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All cereals require three hours boiling- before being fed 
to an infant. 

You cannot depend on any foods except those prepared 
in your own kitchen. All foods decompose in time. 



cooking to some ignorant stranger, as is done with patent 
foods, who may or may not do it perfectly, and who is not 
under your control ? Again, is it not better and safer 
for your, child that the food be fresh daily, and not 
exposed to any contaminating influence or environment, 
in its preparation or keeping? Certainly, it cannot be 
claimed that it is improved by age like unto wine, but on 
the other hand, is frequently damaged by age, even to 
decomposition. 

When we remember that all these foods are made from 
the same stock as we make our bread, biscuit, and rolls 
for breakfast, we can realize the desirability of freshness 
and good cooking. How many are there of us who 
clamor for v these foods of the aged style? How quickly 
do we resent our bread and rolls if they are only a few 
days old, not to mention the months in age always hap- 
pening with these baby foods. Were it not that they are 
kept in glass or metal till in use, they would all be 
decomposed or dried up, as are all starchy foods by age 
and exposure. 

One other resource, and only one, have these manu- 
facturers in making baby foods. This is the addition of 
some barley malt to the preparation. Of so little value is 
this, that only a few of them adopt it. The ability of 
malt to assist in changing starch into a more digestible 
form was discovered by Baron Liebig, many years ago. 
It cannot ever be heated over 120° or this diastatic prop- 
erty is at once destroyed and the malt is useless, except 
for the sugar it carries. Where it is advisable to use 



FOODS. 121 

Avoid any food of "which you do not know all the 
elements. Think of the infant's future. Do not gamble 
on its development. 

Prepare only the amount of food needed for each day. 
Stale foods are risky and unsafe. 

The infant's food should be at blood heat, neither hot 
nor cold to the mouth. 



malt, a good extract of it should be mixed with the food 
just before feeding the child, while the food is only warm 
enough to be swallowed. In this way all of its digesting 
powers are retained, audit assists the stomach in its work. 
Malt acts on starch the same as saliva, but is not nearly 
so powerful. 

Amount of Food Prepared Each Time. 

This is a subject which may often cause trouble. Again 
does the common law of the kitchen give us the answer. 
Enough starchy food for one or even two days can be 
boiled at once, and if closed in a Mason jar and kept on 
ice or in a cold room in winter, will not sour or decom- 
pose. Where ice cannot be used, more frequent prepara- 
tion is necessary. Food left exposed to the air should 
not be used, as it spoils rapidly. 

Temperature of Food. 
• In this subject we should aim at following Nature's 
plan. The nursing child draws its food at blood tem- 
perature, and mothers should follow this example. Food 
either too hot or too cold is an irritant to the young 
child's stomach, and tends to produce indigestion or 
diarrhea. As -children grow older they are able to par- 
take of cold drinks without damage. 

Cooking of Foods. 
Parents and nurses should always remember that the 
digestive organs of the infant are immature, and con- 



122 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Nitrogenous foods are damaged by overcooking-. 
Starchy foods cannot be boiled too much. 

Mothers must remember that baked foods are concen- 
trated and must be fed in small amounts. 



sequently weak digesters, easily disturbed, and difficult 
to correct when disturbed. 

The preparation of their food always requires the 
greatest care. In preparing the animal foods, much heat 
damages them and increases digestive difficulty in direct 
ratio with its intensity and length of application. Gen- 
erally, only enough heat should be applied to secure a 
thoroughly sterile and non-poisonous condition. With 
this amount of cooking all animal foods are more easily 
digested than with a greater amount, which dries and 
hardens all meats. They are also more nourishing. 

Starches of all kinds require just the opposite treat- 
ment to animal foods. Starches are rendered more di- 
gestible, and consequently more nourishing, with intensity 
and length of boiling. When fed in an underdone or 
partially cooked condition, they cause indigestion and 
bowel disturbances. 

All starches should be cooked by boiling for infant 
feeding. In this way they become well diluted with 
water, and are most easily digested. Baked or concen- 
trated starch must be reduced with water to make it 
dilute enough for the infant's digestive power. 

Starch Waters. 

These are made by using rice, oatmeal, barley, or 
wheat, as desired. As the quantity of starch in all these 
grains is so nearly the same, they can all be made from 
the same proportions of grain and water. 

Rice Water. — One tablespoonful of rice, one quart of 
water. Boil down to one pint. Or, double the amount of 



FOODS. 



123 



rice, and continue the boiling for three hours, adding water 
regularly, so that there is a quart when done. Strain out 
the undissolved grain. Sweeten, flavor, and feed as it is. 

Rice, Oat, or Baeley Jelly. — These are made by 
soaking two tablespoonfuls of the coarse ground grain 
in cold water for twelve hours, and then boiling down to 
a pint. This jelly is used, diluted with milk, where a 
stronger food is needed. The amount required must be 
found by trial of the child's digestive power. 

Preparations of oatmeal are used in constipated infants, 
and those of rice or barley in all loose conditions of the 
bowels. The preparations of oats are the most nourish- 
ing, on account of the extra amount of fat they carry. 

Starch waters or jellies are the only suitable diet to 
mix with milk for infants when being weaned, or to add to 
the diet when the infant is not thriving on milk in its 
various needed dilutions. 

Gluten. 
Gluten is the outside layer of cells in all grain. It is 
the albuminous, or strength giving part of the food, and 
is the tissue-builder, or part which gives muscle, bone, 
and nerve to the con- 
sumer. It is much 
more easily digested 
than the starch or 
part of the 



inner 

grain (Figure 20). 
The starch, or inner 
part, is fattening and 
and also supplies the 
heat-giving proper- 
ties to food. The 




Figure 20. Shows the different cells forming 
a grain of wheat, a and 6, branny covering; 
c, gluten cells; d, starch cells. 



glutinous part of the grain takes the* place in vegetable 



124 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Give oatmeal water or jelly to constipated infants, and 
rice or barley waters or jellies to those with loose bowels. 

The inside of all cereals is made of starch or flour. Next 
to this is a layer of gluten cells. These are the vegetable 
nitrogen, which is easily digested, and is a tissue-builder. 
This coat makes whole meals preferable to flour foods for 
infant feeding. 

Infants starve on meat juices alone. Milk or boiled 
starches (cereals) must be added to them for feeding, when 
long continued. 



food that lean meat, milk, and eggs do in animal food. 
From this it is evident that where artificial feeding is 
needed in the second half of the first year, it is better to 
prepare food from the whole product of the grain rather 
than from the flour, which is mostly a product of the 
starchy or inner part of the grain. Here oat, wheat, rice, 
and corn meals are preferable to the white flour foods. 
As these must be cooked by boiling, another advantage 
is added to their use. 

Meat Juices and Broths. 

These should be classed with milk for nourishing prop- 
erties and ease of digestion. Unfortunately, the advan- 
tages of this diet are overestimated by many mothers, and 
children are thus confined to them when they should be 
consuming the meat itself. A too long continuance of 
them tends to the rickety condition, 

Meat Juices. — These are more nourishing than broths, 
as the heat coagulates the albumen in the latter. The 
juices are obtained by solution in water and by com- 
pression. The latter is preferable, being stronger and 
less bulky to feed to the little one. . Machines somewhat 
similar to the sausage or grinding ones used in the 
kitchen, can be bought at the hardware store for about 



FOODS. 



125 



Beef juice contains more proteid than beef tea. 
excess may cause indigestion and diarrhea. 



This 




Meat Press. 



three dollars each. In these, 
the meat is dropped into the top 
regularly while the crank is turned. 
An adjustable screw at the other 
end controls the exit, forcing the 
liquids and meat out separately. 
In a few minutes all the meat 
juice requisite for the day can be 
extracted with one of these ma- 
chines. Where only a small 
amount is required, beef juice 
can be made by broiling the steak 
till it is soft, cutting it into 
small squares, and squeezing these with a lemon squeezer, 
or meat press, costing from fifty to seventy-five cents 
each (Figure 21). 

Beef juice can also be extracted by the cold water 
process. A pound of finely chopped lean beef is added 
to eight ounces of water and allowed to stand from eight 
to twelve hours on ice. This juice is then extracted by 
twisting it in coarse muslin, or pressing it in the lemon 
squeezer or meat press. This process does not give such 
palatable juice as the dry process, because it carries less 
extractives. The taste can be improved by the addition 
of salt, sherry wine, or celery salt. A few spoonfuls may 
be added to milk without the infant noticing it. Care 
must then be observed not to heat the milk or juice above 
100°, as this coagulates the albumen. 

Beef juices must not be considered as foods. Animals 
fed on them alone soon starve to death. They are only 
stimulants, suitable for addition to other foods, and for 



126 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

An infant will die on meat juices alone. Any person 
■will live and thrive on milk alone. 



very limited use. Sometimes a raw meat juice loosens 
the bowels too much. When this happens, the amount 
fed should be reduced, or changed to the beef tea or 
cooked form. 

Broths. — These are made from mutton, veal, chicken, 
or beef, in the proportion of one pound of either to a pint 
of water. These are placed in a jar and allowed to stand 
for four hours before heating. They should be cooked 
slowly, till there is only a half pint of tea left. After 
cooling thoroughly, all fat must be removed and the 
remaining liquid strained through a cloth. 

The following comparison of the chemical constituents 
of milk, meat juice, and broths will show their respective 
nourishing values. Milk is Nature's ideal food, and carries 
all the elements essential for the development of the infant. 

milk (human). 

Fat 4.00 

Sugar - - - - - - - - 7.00 

Proteid 1.50 

BEEF JUICE. 



Cold water process, 1 
pound of chopped lean beef 
gives 8 ounces. 
Fat - - - 0.00 

Extractives - - 1.95 

Proteid - - 3.00 



Expressed juice, warm 
process, 1 pound lean beef 
gives 2^ ounces. 
Fat - ' - - 0.60 

Extractives - - 3.45 

Proteid - - 2.95 



The warm process gives more extractives and a small 
amount of fat also. A comparison with the elements of 
milk shows a striking difference in the composition. 



FOODS. 127 

The nearer any food is to the composition of human milk, 
the more suitable is it for infant feeding. All the elements 
in milk are needed for success. 

One meal each day of meat broth or juice is sufficient. 
This rests the stomach if properly prepared. 



BEEF BROTH. 

Fat -------- 0.00 

Extractives ------- 1.85 

Proteid - - - - - - - - 1.02 

These figures show beef broth still less nourishing than 
raw meat juices. No meat juice should be considered a 
substitute for milk except for a short time, when the in- 
fant's stomach is so disturbed that it cannot take its regu- 
lar food. In older children, who can digest starch, rice 
or barley should be boiled well and added to the broth. 
This makes one very suitable meal daily, with some bread 
or vegetable. Meat broths are stimulants and cause a 
good gastric secretion, preparing the way for more sub- 
stantial foods. To the overfed child they are a relief, 
being a substitute for heavy food. 

All meat broths and juices must be used while fresh. 
As they are the most fertile base in which bacterial poi- 
sons develop, we frequently have serious attacks of vom- 
iting, cramps and diarrhea follow the use of beef tea 
which is two or more days old, and has been left exposed 
to air and heat. The same care is needed in keeping 
it pure and sterile that we find necessary with milk, and 
the same heating and bottling with sterile cotton corks is 
requisite to avoid contamination from the air. They 
should all be kept on ice. Meat juices, like meat, will 
spoil in a few hours in warm weather when not on ice. 

The sudden addition of meat juices in large amounts 
to an infant's dietary is likely to produce acute Bright's 



128 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All meat foods must be prepared at home. Those 
bought in the stores are useless and dangerous for infants. 

Scraped meats are occasionally needed in sickness. 
They make dark stools. 



disease with dropsical swellings. A return to an entirely 
milk diet generally cures this very soon. 

Proprietary Meat Juices. 

There are many of these on the market, some of which 
are palatable and useful in emergencies ; but where it is 
necessary to continue their use, it is better to use the 
freshly prepared home-made article. Where the pre- 
pared meat juices are used they must be largely diluted, 
as they are in the concentrated form, carrying a large 
amount of extractives and proteids. They can be mixed 
with milk or other foods, and form an addition to the 
infantile dietary. The writer most strongly urges mothers 
not to use any meat preparations in infant feeding except 
those daily and freshly prepared in her own kitchen. 
Old meat juices contain little infantile food, and are often 
poisonous to delicate infantile digestion. 

Scraped Meat. 

Where the ordinary liquid dietary fails to successfully 
nourish a child, raw meat can be fed in small quantities 
several times daily. The amount fed at each time will 
vary from one to two teaspoonfuls with increasing age. 

The meat should be always tender and lean, beef or 
mutton being generally preferred. It can be scraped 
down fine or chopped minutely. This may be dressed 
with salt and fed cold or slightly broiled, as the child pre- 
fers. This is infinitely more nutritious than any of the 
liquid preparations of meat, and is easily digested when 



FOODS. 129 

Too much meat or broth causes dark, slimy stools 
and a sleepy, stupid baby, from blood poisoning- with 
undigested animal products. 



not cooked too much. Where not completely digested, 
very offensive stools will follow its use, and this feature 
should, when too intense, govern the amount fed daily. 
As the digestive organs are always at fault in these cases, 
we must expect a stronger odor in the stools than the natu- 
ral one. 

Frequently an infant will suck a piece of rare steak or 
roast beef with relish and benefit. Parents should remem- 
ber that these articles should not be added to a full 
milk dietary, but rather should supplant the milk very 
largely. 

Foods After Weaning. 

Foods are divided by Nature's digestive and assimilative 
powers into two great classes. Nature has two prime 
duties to perform in feeding the human subject. These 
are: 

First: To supply food for growth and strength. 
Second: To supply food for maintaining the temper- 
ature of the body. 

For the first she uses nitrogenous foods, which are as 
follows : 

From the animal kingdom: 
Milk, 
Meat, 
Eggs, 
Fish. 
From the vegetable kingdom: 
Gluten. 
Legumins. 
Gluten is the outside layer of cells in all grains. The 
legumins are peas, beans, and lentils. 



130 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

There are only two classes of foods— animal and vege- 
table. Animal foods are the NITROGENOUS, vegetable 
are the STARCHY. 

Always select the foods most perfectly digested. These 
give the best sleep and nutrition. Correct stools tell the 
perfect work. 



For the second — to maintain the body temperature — 
Nature uses: 

From the animal kingdom: 

Fats. 
From the vegetable kingdom: 

Cereals, 

Sweet Fruits, 

Sugars, 

Vegetables. 
All the cereal products are composed largely of starch, 
with a small percentage of fat and an outside coating of 
gluten. The starch is first converted into sugar in the 
digestive organs, before being appropriated into heat- 
forming elements. So the selection of a grain food for a 
child depends mostly on the amount of starch and fat it 
contains. As oatmeal contains from three to four times 
the amount of fat contained in barley, rice, or wheat, and 
about the same amount, or more, than is in corn, it can be 
seen that it should receive the preference over these 
grains, where the digestive organs can consume this 
excessive amount of fat without causing diarrhea. Corn- 
meal makes a very suitable food for older children but is 
not so palatable or suitable for the younger infants, 
whose milk food may require supplementing with starch 
from the time they are three or four months old. 

The remaining products of the vegetable kingdom are 
beneficial in heat-producing elements, mostly in propor- 
tion to the amount of sugar and starch they contain. 






FOODS. 131 

A mixed nitrogenous and starch diet is requisite for 
perfect development, after the first half year. 

Fruits must be considered only as relishes, not as 
foods. They injure delicate infants. 

Cream is the only substitute for human milk. It can be 
diluted always to suit the infant and bring yellow stools. 



Sago, tapioca, and all other products of the palm tree, 
are valuable forms of starch, light and easily digested. 
They form a very pleasant change in the infant's dietary, 
especially where it has suffered from abusive errors in 
digestion. 

From these facts it is plain that the infant's dietary 
should be selected from both classes of food, with due 
regard to its age and digestive powers. The only 
exception to this is where an exclusively nitrogenous diet 
is demanded by the very young infant, and in cases of 
sickness where either starch or nitrogen is temporarily 
excluded. 

Foods — Their Uses in Infancy. 

Human Milk. — This is the best of all foods till the 
infant is six to eight months old. Then dilute cow's milk 
should be added, and with boiled oatmeal or rice will 
complete a perfect diet. On this addition, weaning 
should be accomplished before the infant is twelve months 
old. Human milk can seldom be depended on as the 
only food after eight or nine months. Good human milk 
supplies all the elements needed in the nutrition of the 
infant. 

Cream. — Properly diluted, this is the best food to sub- 
stitute for human milk. On this, many or most children 
may be raised entirely till six to eight months old, when 
boiled oatmeal, rice, or barley may be cautiously added 
as the stools show perfect digestion. Cream must always 



132 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Cow's milk carries too much proteid for safe feeding-. 
It is easier and safer to use diluted cream, thus reducing 
this proteid but retaining* the fat. 

Always feed cream or milk raw, except in hot weather. 
If you have your own cow, feed it raw all the time. 



be pasteurized in hot weather, to prevent fermentation, 
and infection of the infant's digestive organs. Infants 
should always have three to four months of human milk 
if possible. 

Cow's Milk. — This is nearly always too rich in proteid 
(cheese) and too poor in sugar to make a good or digest- 
ible food for infants under nine months old. When fed, 
it must be diluted two to four times with boiled water and 
have sugar added to 7 per cent., and cream enough to make 
yellow stools, before it is a suitable food. If cow's milk 
is fed to infants under six months old without proper 
dilution with boiled water, it irritates the stomach and 
soon causes an acute gastritis, from which the infant 
rarely makes a perfect recovery. The stomach remains 
tender, and if not carefully rested, soon refuses milk in 
any dilution. Such cases are then forced to wet nurses 
to save their lives, and some bad cases cannot even digest 
this human milk. These must be nourished on whey, 
beef juice, and starch waters. Cow's milk, undiluted, is 
usually not a safe food till after weaning time. It con- 
tains all the elements necessary for the infant's nutrition, 
but not in the proper proportion. Where infants can 
digest it they are usually very strong, but so many are 
gradually poisoned by its excessive proteid (cheese), 
that it is generally very unsafe without careful dilution. 

Both cream and milk should be fed raw when possible 
and safe, as in cold weather. Cooked milk is not so nour- 



FOODS. 133 

Beef extracts must be made fresh every day to avoid 
poisoning' the infant in hot weather. 



isliing or easily digested as raw milk. In Nature's way, 
milk is always fed raw. 

Whey. — This is the product left from cow's milk after 
the curd or cheesy part has been removed by pepsin or 
sherry wine. It is a weak food, suitable only for tem- 
porary use, or in connection with rice, oatmeal, or barley. 
It is used mostly in feeding those who cannot digest 
milk. As it does not contain enough of the elements 
necessary for nutrition, it cannot be considered as a 
permanent food. In those children over six months old, 
I have found it a good food with the boiled starches, and 
the addition of a small amount of cream or beef juice. 

Koumtss. — This is made by fermenting cow's milk with 
yeast. It has a tart taste, which is often very agreeable 
to the tender stomach. It is seldom suitable for infants 
except during a feverish or nauseated spell, when sweet 
milks are not retained on the stomach. Koumiss con- 
tains all the elements of nutrition, and may be continued 
indefinitely if necessary and well digested. As it con- 
tains ^much gas, the tender' or nauseated stomach will 
often accept it kindly when it refuses all other foods. 

Beef Juice. — This is a weak, raw proteid food, suitable 
for one meal daily or for mixing with milk in small pro- 
portion, where the infant is not thriving well. As it is 
a different proteid from that in milk, and for some chil- 
dren more easily digested, it is useful as a lunch or rest- 
ing meal to relieve the labor on an overworked stomach. 
In children over nine months old, beef juice can be fed 
with boiled rice or barley to great advantage. As it 
contains only one of the elements needed for good nutri- 
tion, it must always be considered a temporary food. It 



134 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All meat preparations should be fed in the forenoon, so 
they "will be digested before bedtime. 



is really a stimulant, preparing the stomach to receive 
reliable foods, such as the boiled starches — rice, barley, 
etc. It should be warmed only enough for drinking, as 
heat over 100° coagulates the albumen and makes difficult 
digestion. 

Beef Broth. — This is nearly the same as beef juice, 
but is a weaker food, and consequently not so valuable, as 
here the proteids have been coagulated by the heat. On 
beef broth alone, any child would starve. It is weaker 
than beef juice, and should be fed in the same way. 

Lamb Chop or Mutton Chop. — These may be fed 
in the scraped form, broiled lightly and seasoned, to 
infants whose digestive organs will not receive liquids. 
These infants have usually been damaged by a milk diet, 
and suffer from vomiting or diarrhea. 

Lamb and mutton chop, cooked rare, may be fed with 
advantage to children able to run around. It should 
always be shredded or scraped finely, and fed with potato 
or bread for the noonday meal. It is good diet for the 
active child able to run, as it contains the fat, proteid, 
and salts needed for good nutrition. 

Beefsteak or Roast Beef. — These are not so easily 
digested as lamb chop. As they are essentially the 
same food, they should be used according to the same 
principles for the active child at midday meal. Beef is 
the most invigorating food, and is always beneficial when 
digestible. There is no objection to its careful and 
limited use, once daily, with the active child. Pale and 
anaemic children require a solid meat diet. Frequently 
parents continue the meat juices and broths when they 
should be feeding the meat itself. The pale color of the 



FOODS. 135 

Veal is an unreliable food for infants. To many it acts 
like a poison, causing- nausea, vomiting-, and diarrhea. 

When feeding egg to an infant, gauge the amount by 
the size of the child. A twenty-flve-pound child cannot 
digest as much as an adult. 

skin, with lack of elasticity and softness of the flesh, 
will usually indicate this necessity. Nothing contra- 
indicates the use of the meat so long as the stools show 
perfect digestion. 

Veal. — This is an uncertain food on account of the 
difficulty in obtaining it old and matured enough for 
safe digestion and good nutrition. Veal broth is made 
the same way as beef broth, but has nothing to recom- 
mend it save the different flavor from that of other meats. 
It should always be used with the boiled rice or barley 
for weaned infants. It may be fed alone to infants over 
six months old, but great care must be exercised in 
securing good, mature veal. One meal daily, during the 
forenoon, is enough. The stools must be watched for 
good results before it is adopted as a regular item in 
the infant's diet. 

The meat of good veal may be fed at noon to the 
weaned child, with some starch, as baked potato or bread. 

Grood veal should supply strength in nutrition, and also 
be a tissue-builder. 

Eggs. — These may be fed to the weaned child of a year 
old or to the hand-fed, healthy child even sooner. They 
should always be boiled very lightly, not enough to 
harden the white or albumen, and a part only be fed at 
first till the stools show successful digestion. 

Egg yelk is principally fat and easily digested. It 
generates heat, and the albumen of the white part gives 
strength and forms tissues. 

Egg should be fed at the morning or midday meal. 



136 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Butter is both nourishment and laxative to the infant. 
When overfed it causes vomiting, but never does any 
other harm. 



Fish. — When fresh and properly cooked, fish makes 
a very useful addition to the diet of the weaned child or 
the hand-fed one of two years old. It is best cooked 
by boiling or broiling, which removes the excessive fat, 
and should be fed while the child is exercising, not in the 
evening. As fish is more easily digested than meat, it 
can be fed more freely. 

Fish supplies heat and strength to the infant. 

Butter.— This is a very valuable article in the dietary 
of the infant at all ages. As it is the essential part of 
cream, we first find it a component of the infant's diet in 
the mother's milk. Some parents dread feeding butter 
as such to the nursing infant. We must remember that 
it is an essential item of the mother's milk, and is often 
deficient in quantity there. This deficiency is recognized 
by the pale yellow color of the stools, and the pale washy, 
soft color of the infant, and the soft bones. Butter or 
diluted cream should always be fed under these conditions, 
and may with safety be fed under all conditions when the 
infant is not thriving satisfactorily or the bowels are 
costive. Half a teaspoonf ul of melted butter may be given 
two to three times daily to the three months old infant. 
I have never seen any damage result from feeding it freely, 
but commonly great benefit. The amount may be increased 
with age, and continued indefinitely, as long as the child's 
digestion receives it well and stools are not too frequent. 

Cream. — When diluted with three to four parts of 
sweetened boiled water, cream may be fed in the same 
way, but is best fed before nursing. Butter and cream 
secure good growth and heat to the infant. 



FOODS. 137 

The breast of chicken and turkey is the most easily 
digested part. The dark meats are the most fatty and 
relaxing-. 



Chicken. — This is a good meat for the weaned infant. 
The short, tender fibers of the breast are the only parts 
suitable in the older meats. Any part of the young 
chicken may be fed when scraped or shredded finely. Any 
form of cooking which gives perfectly cooked results may 
be used. It, like all other meats, is suitable for the 
weaned child, and should be fed without any milk at the 
midday meal. 

Turkey and Duck. — These should be considered in 
the same light as chicken, and fed accordingly. Game 
comes under the same head, but judgment must be used 
in the quality fed. It must not be too old or long 
killed. It is easily digested and makes a nice change in 
the dietary once daily. 

All forms of poultry and game are valuable tissue- 
builders, giving strength and vigor to the infant when 
moderately fed. 

Starchy Foods— Cereals. 
Oatmeal. — This is the most nourishing and valuable 
form of starch for young infants on account of the high 
percentage of fat it carries. In some infants it causes 
looseness of the bowels, and rice or barley is most suit- 
able to these cases. Oatmeal water, made by three hours' 
cooking, is a valuable agent in diluting cream. It may 
always be fed sparingly to the nursing infant after six 
months of age, when the mother's milk is insufficient in 
amount or poor in quality. In extreme cases, this starch 
water, mixed with diluted cream, may be fed as early as 
three months. It is always desirable to commence feed- 
ing this oatmeal water and cream some weeks or months 



138 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All cereals are improved for infantile digestion by long 
cooking. Not less than three hours' boiling will do good 
work. 

Only the foods that are freshly prepared each day are 
suitable for infants. 



before weaning. This strengthens the infant and helps 
guard against any approaching damage from the gradu- 
ally deteriorating qualities of the mother's milk. 

Oatmeal is also a powerful tissue-builder and heat 
producer. 

Rice and Barley. — These come next after oatmeal as 
an infant starch. As they contain little fat, they will 
suit those cases where oatmeal is relaxing to the bowels. 
Aside from this effect, there is no difference apparently 
in the infant's use of these foods. They are always 
admissible in dilute form after six months, and in urgent 
cases even after three months old. As infants grow older, 
the starch may be used more concentrated, as in the jelly 
form. 

All foods made from the whole of the grain have the 
advantage of the glutinous or nitrogenous outer coats, as 
well as the starchy inner layers. These foods are valu- 
able tissue-builders, and also supply heat for the body. 

Wheat. — In the rolled form, like oats, wheat may be 
used as an infant food by boiling it the usual three hours 
and flavoring it well with cream and sugar. This may 
also, like oats, rice, and barley, be fed lightly to infants 
at six or even three months old. It is a tissue-builder 
and heat producer. 

As nearly all our bread, biscuits, and cakes are made 
from wheat flour, it is most commonly consumed in one 
or other of these forms. If these are boiled first, they can 
be fed even to the very young in small amounts, with 



FOODS. 139 

Potatoes do not agree with all children. If seen in the 
stools or the infant is cross, they should be stopped. 

Small pieces of light, friable cake should be given often 
after the first six months. Never give large pieces. 



cream and sugar; but in their original forms, they are 
fed very little before weaning. Y^hen fed with butter 
freely, bread, biscuits, and crackers can be given regularly 
in small amounts to infants after weaning, and to many 
as early as six months. These forms are not as safe as 
the boiled form with dilute cream, nor are they as easily 
digested or nourishing. In the baked forms, they are 
condensed food and not so digestible. 

Potatoes. — These contain from fifteen to twenty-five 
per cent, starch. The balance is mostly water and cellu- 
lose starch envelopes. Baked potatoes are considered 
more digestible than boiled ones; but ripe, dry potatoes 
are generally a safe starch diet, when well mashed and 
dressed with butter, cream, or milk. They may be fed 
in the same way as meats, once daily, or more frequently 
if desired, as the infant approaches the weaning period. 
They substitute all cereals at any meal, but are not so 
valuable, as they contain less than half the amount of 
starch and no gluten. 

Potatoes should be classed mainly as heat producers. 

Cakes. — All light, friable cakes made from flour, 
sugar, eggs, and milk, can be given in moderation to 
children having teeth, so long as the total amount of food 
per day is not materially increased thereby. In all 
these additions to the dietary, the digestive power of the 
infant, as evidenced in the stools, must be respected. 
Food passing through the infant unchanged is not 
beneficial, but, on the contrary, is a source of danger. 
Rank odors and mixed colors in the stools should be 



140 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Fruits and vegetables should not be fed during the first 
year, and very little during the second. 



considered as indications of an unsuitable diet, either 
in quality or quantity, possibly in both, and requires 
prompt correction. 

Light cakes, well digested, are tissue-builders and heat 
producers also. 

Carrots, Turnips, Cabbage, Onions, Parsnips, and 
Beets. — These are all foods of the coarser variety, and 
contain little starch. They are unsuited to infants and 
should always be avoided. 

It would be impossible to classify these vegetables 
under any of the nutritive heads. They contain so little 
starch they cannot be considered as heat producers, and 
so little nitrogen they cannot be tissue-builders. 

Fruits. — These can seldom be fed with safety to infants. 
Only the sweetest kinds are admissible in small amounts 
as a relish, and should never be fed to the infant during 
the first year. They may be introduced occasionally, when 
perfectly ripe and fresh, in small quantities during the 
second year, to vigorous, healthy children. Their effects 
must be carefully watched, as they are not in any sense 
essential to a properly fed infant. They are best reserved 
for those showing a scorbutic tendency from using a 
continued cooked dietary. Such infants will be found 
among those fed on condensed and sterilized milk and 
on all patent foods. They are like sailors robbed of raw 
foods, and require the fruit acids to avoid the dreaded 
effects of scurvy. A continuously cooked dietary is to 
be avoided, if possible. 

Fruits are valuable, solely on account of the sugar and 
acids they carry, and the stimulus they give the appetite 
for other foods. They should be fed before the afternoon 



FOODS. 141 

Tropical starches are not adapted for feeding- in the 
temperate zone, except in special cases. 

Before selecting" a food for the infant, see that it has the 
elements necessary for proper growth and development. 



meals, to secure perfect digestion, before the evening or 
sleeping hours. 

Fruits must be classed as heat producers in proportion 
to the sugar they carry; but the sourer ones are over- 
balanced in this respect by the cooling acids they contain. 
Children and adults with tender digestive organs should 
avoid these entirely. 

Ripe peaches, grapes, and plums are the most digesti- 
ble and suitable of the fruits for infants. 

Tapioca, Aerowroot, and Sago. — These are the 
product of the palm tree and many tropical roots. They 
are other forms of starch, and are a light, easily digested 
food. Perhaps they are among the most easily digested 
of the starches, but as they contain no fat, they are not 
very nourishing. They are suited to tender conditions 
of the digestive organs, and can be used only a short 
time with benefit to the infant. 

They are weak heat producers, well adapted to the 
tropics, but insipid in taste and relished only a short 
time. They always require sugar to make them palatable. 

Composition of Foods. 

In the following columns is shown the analysis of differ- 
ent foods, as made by Professor Leeds. As human milk 
is the standard with which to compare any infant food, 
it is placed at the top for ready comparison. It will be 
observed that cow's milk is the only one which contains 
all the elements of human milk, but in different propor- 
tion: 



142 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



All foods are made from milk and cereals. Neither of 
these is improved by age. All albumenized foods are 
damaged by age. 





1 
Water. 


2 

Fat. 


3 

Pro- 
teids. 


4 

to fh 
O * >> u 

cflO-d c 


5 

Starch. 


Gum and 
Cellu- os 
lose. 


7 
Ash. 


Human Milk 


87.66 

87.03 

91.30 

5.49 

9.23 

12.37 

9.70 

8.34 

2.18 

5.00 

3.42 


3.71 
3 to 6 
1.51 
1.01 
0.63 
0.18 
0.34 
0.40 
5.30 
4.25 
7.54 


1 44 

4.00 

2.01 

10.51 

9.24 

10.07 

10.43 

9.63 

15.83 

11.00 

10.25 


6.94 

4.00 

4 88 

3.56 

5.19 

68.18 

76.83 

44.83 

66.99 

40.91 

64 53 




25 


Cow's Milk 






68 


Condensed Milk, Di- } 

luted for feeding . . ) 

Imperial Granum 

Ridge's Food 


78.03 
77.96 

36.36 

5.57 

36.86 


0.50 

5.45 
0.50 
0.44 

0.28 


0.32 
1.16 
60 


Mellin's Food 


3 75 


Horlick's Food 

Savory & Moore's 

Malted Milk 


2 20 
0.89 
3.13 


Nestle's Food 


1 70 


Carnrick's Soluble ) 
Food S 


4 42 









By diluting any of the above to 88 per cent, of water, 
from condensed milk downward, so that they are of the 
necessary dilutenes's of breast milk, it will at once be seen 
the unreliability of all substitute foods for breast milk. 
It will also be apparent that the cream has been 
abstracted or evaporated from the milk used in their 
manufacture, and thus the requisite amount of fat for 
successful baby growth lost to these foods. 

Next note the immense variation in proteids. The 
most striking difference occurs in the sugar, which runs 
from 3.56 in Imperial Granum to 76.83 in Horlick/s 
Food. 

Columns 5 and 6 show the presence in most patent 
foods of starch, gum, and cellulose, the two latter being 
waste from the former. 



FOODS. 143 

Imperial Granum, Ridge's Food,HubbeH's Wheat, and 
Robinson's Patent Barley are mostly starch made from 
wheat or barley. They are nearly alike, containing 75 
to 80 per cent, starch and 1 to 6 per cent, of sugar, 
balance waste. 

The lactated foods are milk foods, and are represented 
by Nestle's, Anglo-Swiss, Franco-Swiss, the American- 
Swiss, and Gerber's Foods. These are all made from 
evaporated milk and flour made into cakes and ground 
up. Mellin's Food, Liebig's, Horlick's, Hawley's and 
Malted Milk are all malted foods, having barley malt 
in addition to flour, starch and evaporated milk, but are 
largely composed of sugar, some having from 50 to 80 
per cent, of it, which is mostly converted starch. 

Carnrick's Soluble Food, Lacto Preparata, and Lactated 
Food are all preparations of starch and sugar, or milk 
sugar diluted, some having cocoa butter added to give 
them some kind of a fat, but not the right one. 

Let us pause for a moment after considering the above 
component parts of different patent foods, and look at 
what Nature demands for the perfect growth and develop- 
ment of the young infant during the first year: 

4 per cent, cream for warmth and growth. 

7 per cent, milk sugar for heat. 

1-| per cent, proteids for strength and tissue formation. 

0.25 per cent, mineral salts (ash) for blood alkalinity 
and bone stiffening. 

Toward the end of the first year she accepts of starch 
also, as in oatmeal, barley meal, rice, bread, or potato. 
These are all she demands for the perfect child. 

These facts will enable any mother or nurse to select 
from the above list the most suitable diet for her healthy 
infant. In doing so, she will find the cheapest diet is the 



144 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

All proprietary foods are short in the necessary per- 
centage of fat. 

Diluted cream is the best kind of food for young" infants. 



one nearest to Nature's demands, and the one which will 
make the perfectly healthy, vigorous, and symmetrical 
child, 

Proprietary Foods. 

These are commonly called patent foods, and each one 
generally claims more beneficial qualities than the other. 
Their loud claims to superexcellence and their unknown 
components add to their greatness in the eyes of those 
who always grasp at something unknown or the impossi- 
ble. In fact, some people, by their acts, often say they 
like to be humbugged. What can manufacturers procure 
for making their foods that cannot be obtained in any 
home? They use nothing but milk and flour from wheat, 
barley, corn, or other grains. Some add a little malt, but 
unless this is done very carefully and at a low tempera- 
ture, it does not add to the value, as malt is always de- 
stroyed by cooking or boiling. 

Where milk is used in these foods, it is always cooked 
or evaporated. Every cook knows that butter or cream 
soon evaporates or burns away when highly heated. Such 
would be the case in manufacturing these foods also if the 
cream were left in. Generally it looks as if it was removed 
before, and the food made with the residue or skimmed 
milk. Certainly analysis shows all baby foods short in 
the cream or fat. This is a great loss to the child. 

The flour is baked into cakes and these are pulverized. 
The baking here results, as it always does, if properly 
done, in making the flour more digestible. Whether 
these foods carry the milk with them or not, they only 
contain well cooked flour in the pulverized form instead 



FOODS. 145 

Diluted cream and oatmeal boiled three hours cannot be 
equaled for infant feeding. 

of the soft form left in cooking rice or oatmeal, or the 
solid form of bread, present always on our breakfast table. 
Why, then, feed to the delicate infant an unknown some- 
thing, foreign made, instead of a well-known certainty, 
home made ? Truly, our inherited tendency to believe in 
the uncertain unknown displays itself even in feeding our 
little ones. Certainly we are not yet well enough edu- 
cated to apply our judgment to these articles, or we would 
not blindly continue their use, and persevere in this dam- 
aging, stunting, and poisonous course which only too regu- 
larly makes a harvest for the undertaker every warm 
season. Where a fatal result does not follow their use, 
large abdomens, poor complexions, and crooked bones 
make worry for the parents and toil for the physicians 
only too often. 

The careful feeding of the young infant so as to make 
a happy, cheerful, steadily growing child, is the most 
important feature in any household. For healthy children 
it will be seen that the use of proprietary foods is 
entirely unnecessary. Manufacturers of these foods must 
always use the same elements for their products. We 
should not allow our experience and knowledge of these 
articles to be clouded by newspaper advertisements claim- 
ing superior and impossible advantages. We know that 
milk and meat never improve with age, and that they must 
be subjected to cooking and preservative influences and 
mixtures to prevent them from poisonous decomposition. 
It is with great effort and care they can be retained in 
a passably acceptable form. Age, therefore, under the 
best handling, always casts a shadow on their quality. 

Starch, by any treatment possible to science, can only 
10 



146 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Proprietary foods cannot give the development and 
strength that pure milk and well made home foods 
always give. 

Too much sugar makes fat but weak babies, liable to 
have rickety bones. 



be advanced a short step on the road to digestion. Care- 
ful treatment by heat and malt starts the change from 
starch to sugar. In this change starch passes through 
the stages of dextrin, dextrose and maltose, all having a 
sweet taste when properly and carefully completed. Too 
frequently it remains as cooked starch only. If improp- 
erly done, acetous fermentation is established, as is done 
in sour bread. 

Proprietary Foods and Sugar. 

Usually these foods are mawkishly sweet, either from 
this partially changed starch or the addition of cane 
sugar to prevent them from souring. In some delicate 
children, whose digestive organs have been damaged by 
abusive and careless feeding, a sweet diet is the only one 
that can be given. In cases of this kind, some of these 
foods may be allowed till, by careful medicinal treatment, 
the digestive organs recover their tone and are able to 
accept of a reliable diet, in which there is safety for the 
future development of the infant.. The marked absence 
of, or variation in, essentials running through all propri- 
etary foods, must always warn the thoughtful parent that 
as perfect and vigorous a child cannot be secured by a 
diet lacking in these elements, which are absolutely 
requisite for the growth of all the different tissues in the 
body. 

Nature feeds sugar, as such, to the young infant, but 
never over the fixed proportion of 7 per cent.; and is 
careful to decrease this as the child grows older. Sugar 



FOODS. 



14? 



All foods, when diluted properly like human milk, 
must be failures, as they do not contain the requisite 
elements for nutrition. 



in excess makes fat babies, but weak ones, liable to 
sickness. 

Below we show a table of artificial foods diluted like 
human milk. A glance will show their relative propor- 
tions and suitability for successful infant feeding. 



Fats 

Proteids 

Sugars 

Starch 

Inorganic Salts. 
Water 



©.-. 

££ 



4.00 
1.50 
7.00 



0.20 

87.30 



1 



ai 



3.50 
4.00 
4.30 



0.70 

87.50 



■*-■£ 



0.99 
1.20 
7.23 



0.17 
90.40 



gM £13 



-- 



2 r * 5 



0.04 0.39 0.76 

1.50 : 2.28 1.54 

11.56 10.18 6.38 

I : 4.19 

0.45 | 0.50 0.24 
86.45 86.65 86.89 



M ° 




0.16 


0.14 


1.67 


1.98 


0.41 


0.25 


10.91 


10.65 


0.07 


0.06 


86.78 


86.92 



'Z, s o 



1.12 
1.35 
4.06 
5.61 
0.56 
87.30 



1. Note carefully the great deficiency in fat of all the 
foods after cow's milk. 

2. Note also the irregularity in the amount of sugar, 
some having too much, and others not enough. 

3. The fourth line shows the presence of starch in 
some of them. As this is an element foreign to breast 
milk, it is, of course, not applicable to infants during the 
first few months, and not to many of them till eight or 
nine months old. 



Dietary of the Weaned Infant. 

Nitrogenous and starchy foods make the whole dietary 
of mankind. The proportions of these two consumed by 
the adult are about 40 per cent, nitrogenous and 60 per 



148 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The young infant's diet is all nitrogenous ; the parent's 
diet is 40 per cent, nitrogenous and 60 per cent, starchy. 

cent, starchy. The infant gradually changes from the 
wholly nitrogenous diet of the first few months to this 
40 and 60 per cent, ratio of the adult, and many active 
ones accomplish this during the first two years. 

Nitrogenous Foods. 

Now, if only nitrogenous food is requisite as one-half 
of the dietary, we are limited to milk, eggs, fish, and 
meat. Certainly, if we give one nitrogenous food freely, 
we need not give another at that meal to any child. So 
it results that if we feed milk, we do not require eggs; if 
we feed eggs, we do not require meat or fish; and so on 
through the nitrogenous list. This rule may be modified 
when only a small amount of any one is given; then 
another may be added in moderate amount, to make up 
the daily average. 

The only rule governing the selection of the best nitro- 
genous food is the power of digestion in the little one. 
The watchful eye of the mother soon recognizes the per- 
fect digestion of any new food allowed to the child, and 
she can thus feel secure in repeating it so long as this is 
a success. The condition of the stool is still the only 
key requisite to solve this subject. Perfect digestion 
allows the new food to be repeated, but bad, rank odor, 
green, pasty color, or unusual liquidity, shows imperfect 
digestion and the unsuitability of the last addition to the 
diet. 

Suitability of Nitrogenous Foods. 

These are all increased in difficulty of digestion by 
overcooking, and are also proportionately decreased in 
nourishing properties by the same treatment. They in- 



FOODS. 149 

Tender meats are the most easily digested. Curing 
meats increases the difficulty in digesting them. 

Young meats are the most tender; older meats are 
the most nourishing. 

crease in digestive difficulty in the following order: 
Milk, eggs, fish, and meat. 

Meat. — Of the meats, beef, mutton, and lamb are the 
preferable ones for children. They should be fed in the 
noonday meal, so the child can have plenty of exercise 
before the sleeping hours. Chicken, duck, and turkey 
are classed with the meats, and make agreeable changes 
in the child's dietary. They should not be fed with 
dressings or rich gravy. The breasts or white meat are 
always the most suitable parts for tender stomachs. All 
meats should be shredded or cut up very finely, and 
mixed with mashed potato or bread dressed with milk, 
meat juice, or light gravy. 

Cubed Meats. — Ham, lean bacon, corned beef, dried 
beef, and all canned meats and fish are unsuited to infant 
feeding. They cannot digest nitrogen in this form, and 
the use of it generally leads to indigestion and diarrhea. 

Young Meat vs. Old Meat. 

Parents should remember that tough meats are difficult 
to digest. This gives the preference to the meat of 
younger animals and birds, and the choicest of the older 
meats. But these young meats are not so nourishing as 
meat from older animals and fowls, and broths made 
from the latter are much more valuable than those made 
from the meat of young stock. 

Fat of meats should be considered in the same light as 
we view cream, butter, and cod-liver oil. They are 
needed in a certain percentage to secure heat, growth, 



150 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Imperfectly digested meat causes foul, slimy, green 
stools. These are sometimes watery also. 



and soft stools. It is in this way that fat bacon is 
valuable to many children. 

Dread of a Meat Diet. 

Parents have generally some dread of feeding meat to 
young children. This is based usually on parental teach- 
ing or inherited ideas. There may be truth or error 
in this, according to the mode of feeding this diet. Too 
often nausea and vomiting, or colic and diarrhea, follow 
the too free indulgence in it. The same result may follow 
overuse of any food. The judicious use of meats, 
according to perfect digestion, cannot do any harm; but, 
on the contrary, must do great good in supplying the 
aliment from which all the tissues of the body are 
developed, and strength and vigor are secured. Any 
parent who is accustomed to a regular meat diet daily 
and doubts the suitability of it for the infant after wean- 
ing, should make a test of the absence of meat in his 
own diet. After about a week he will realize the very 
decided loss in his strength, energy, and ambition, and 
will demand this vigor-giving food again. The writer 
was skeptical on this point, and made such a test in his 
own diet. The depressing and weakening effect was so 
marked that now he never hesitates in allowing this food 
to the infant one or two years old when the stools prove 
it is well digested. Of course, the presence of teeth to 
grind such food is a requisite for safety in feeding it, 
coupled with thorough shredding, or mincing it, before 
feeding. 

Meat should not be fed more than once daily, and no 
milk should be given at that meal. As the child grows 



FOODS. 151 

Starchy foods cannot be boiled too much for easy 
digestion. 



older, the amount may be increased. Great care and 
watchfulness must be exercised not to feed enough to 
cause green, slimy stools or a heavy, sleepy condition. 

Starchy Foods. 

Starch forms the bulk of all cereals, and shows no dif- 
ference except in the shape and size cf the particles in the 
different grains. It is tied up in little envelopes of cellu- 
lose, there being hundreds of these closely packed to- 
gether in each grain. These are only visible under the 
microscope, being too small to be seen with the naked eye 
(Figure 20). These little cellulose envelopes must be 
broken, so that the digestive fluid can act on the starch. 
They are not soluble in the stomach and form part of the 
waste that is carried off by the bowels. To break these 
starch envelopes requires long continued boiling or bak- 
ing, and this explains why rice, oatmeal, or barley are so 
easily digested when long and thoroughly cooked. At 
the very least, three hours' cooking in the double boiler 
are requisite to break these envelopes. Where starch is 
ground up first and then boiled in a single vessel with 
constant stirring to prevent burning, it reaches a much 
higher temperature, and can be cooked thoroughly in 
an hour. The same fact applies to the high tempera- 
ture of the oven in baking starchy foods, where seldom 
more than half an hour is needed for any article except 
the largest, such as bread. 

Where starchy food is not thoroughly cooked, it pro- 
duces indigestion in the infant, and very soon diarrhea 
also from fermentation, as the digestive fluid cannot pene • 
trate the cellulose envelopes. This is very commonly 



152 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Imperfectly cooked cereals cause indigestion, gas, 
diarrhea and restlessness, with vomiting. 



illustrated where mothers are directed to feed some rice, 
oatmeal, or barley to the weaning infant in connection 
with the regular milk diet; but are not instructed to give 
the three hours' cooking requisite for easy digestion. 
Generally, vomiting, crossness, and loose bowels follow 
this short cooking, which at once disappear when better 
and longer boiling of the same starch is secured. 

From this it is evident that the starch diet of an infant 
is very simple if the principles of cooking and diluting 
are observed. 

Selecting the Most Suitable Starch Diet. 

Starch forms the bulk of all cereals, a small part of 

most vegetables, and of many fruits. The following table 

shows the proportion of starch in the cereals and some 

vegetables. In one hundred pounds of the grain there 

are in 

Of Starch. 

Rice - » - - - - 76 to 87 pounds. 

Sago, tapioca, arrowroot, corn flour, 

maizena - - - - - - 83 pounds. 



Pearl barley 

Fine wheat flour - 

Rye , - - - 

Wheat 

Maize (Indian corn) 

Buckwheat, without husks 

Scotch oatmeal - 

Beans 

Peas 



38 to 76 pounds. 

74 pounds. 
44 to 71 pounds. 
53 to 69 pounds. 
66 to 67 pounds. 

64 pounds. 

- 63 pounds. 

36 to 52 pounds. 

39 to 51 pounds. 



Wheaten bread ... - 48 pounds. 



FOODS. 153 

Fruits are not a good diet for infants. They should 
never be given during the first year. 



Potatoes - - - - - - 10 to 24 pounds. 

Parsnips -.---- 3 pounds. 

Vegetable marrow - - - - -| pound. 

From the above list, it is easy to have a large variety 
of foods made from different grains, all carrying an 
abundance of starch. When we look at the last three 
items in this list, we are struck with the' rapid deprecia- 
tion in starch, and corresponding food value of the vege- 
table part of the list. The same small proportion of 
starch pervades all vegetables, the great bulk of each 
being cellulose and water. The greater proportion of 
starch in potato explains why it is such a standard and 
valuable food. 

Fruits. 

These are valuable as foods in proportion to their 
sweetness. They are beneficial to children in like pro- 
portion. This is explained by the amount of sugar they 
carry. Where the sugar is plentiful, the acids are corre- 
spondingly less. Strong acids and density are usually 
the injurious elements in fruits. 

The fruits most suitable and easy of digestion are 
grapes, oranges, cooked apples, figs, peaches, strawber- 
ries, and raspberries. Among these, of course, the ripest 
and sweetest are the most desirable and valuable. 

Melons, prunes, raw apples, pears, apricots, bananas, 
and fresh currants are less digestible, and consequently 
more suited to older children and adults 

Aside from the nourishing power of the sugar 
in fruits, they are valuable for the mild acids they 
contain and the pleasant, stimulating flavors they carry 
into the stomach. The acids are valuable in avoiding the 



154 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Fruits are nutritious through the sugar they contain. 



scorbutic tendency in hand-fed children, and, with the 
flavors, stimulate the secretions of the stomach, causing 
a stronger and better digestion when not -used too freely. 

Pineapples and bananas are valuable when perfectly 
ripe and of a rich flavor. The inferior grades should be 
discarded, as they are not perfectly ripened and are diffi- 
cult to digest. 

All starches are converted into sugar in the digestive 
organs before being assimilated. As sugar they can be 
used in the body or stored up for future use. Suitable 
fruits being mostly sugar when ripe and ready for use, do 
not require much labor in digestion. This explains the 
great capacity vigorous children show for fruit diet, and 
with the stimulating influence of their flavors, why fruits 
do not destroy the appetite for regular meals, when eaten 
moderately. 

In our efforts to simplify the diet of the weaned infant, 
we have only spoken of nitrogenous and starch diets, as 
these are the principal elements in the animal and vege- 
table classes. Coupled with these are other elements in 
each class of great value, as the extractives and salts 
in meats, and the nitrogen salts and fat in cereals. As 
most of these minor elements are treated of separately, 
the writer thinks it best to avoid them here. 

Suitable Foods for the Nursing Mother. 

. Mixed dietary of 

Meat, milk, eggs, fish (nitrogenous foods), and 
potatoes, bread, oatmeal, rice (starchy foods), 
make the reliable and successful milk. 

Too much nitrogenous food makes this milk, 
colicky. 



FOODS. 155 

Overfeeding of meat, milk, or eggs by the mother 
makes a cross, colicky milk for the infant. 

Any foods causing indigestion in the mother spoil her 
milk for the infant. 



Vegetable food alone makes easily digested but 

a weak milk. 
Starchy or grain foods make a good milk. 
Raw fruits and sour fruits make a colicky milk. 
Cabbage makes a poor, colicky milk. 
Pickles make a weak, cross milk. 
Tomatoes are tart and make a cross milk. 
Drinking freely of milk sometimes causes colic in 

the child through too much proteid. 
Iced drinks of any kind will disturb the milk 

secretion and distress the infant. 
Too much food, of any kind, causes indigestion, 
reduces the milk secretion, and also spoils its 
quality. 
The nursing mother should carefully adjust the amount 
of meat daily to her own and the child's necessities. A 
fair amount at two meals daily is always enough. Some 
mothers do not take this, and thus spoil this secretion. 

Overmuch meat is known by the colic, green stools, and 
restlessness of the infant. 

A too limited meat dietary is shown by the paleness of 
the infant and its failing to make the weekly increase in 
weight. 

Each mother must study her own dietary by the 
results shown in her infant. 

Foods for Delicate, Weak Children. 

There are a number of infants every summer, born in 
that year, who do not thrive, and who persistently pass 
food in their stools, and who always have loose, watery, fou] 



156 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Infants starve from overfeeding and thrive on a suit- 
able reduced diet. 



stools These stools are and may be any color, consist- 
ence, or character. Green color, watery, or slimy con- 
sistence, with curds or lumps of undigested food, and very 
foul odor are the prevailing characteristics. The stools 
vary in number from two or three in the day to as many 
in the hour. They vary also in size, being smaller gen- 
erally as they increase in number, and often only a green 
splash on the diaper. 

These infants do not grow. They are cross, whining, 
and sleepless, requiring constant attention. At six or 
eight months they weigh little more than at one month. 
They are pale, poor, wrinkled, and weak, looking like 
little old men. 

The history in these cases is generally that of a child 
fed with a bottle, given all kinds of foods in succession in 
the vain effort to find one suitable. Or the infant may 
have these stools and the mother still persist in nursing 
it, never recognizing the fact that her milk is unhealthy 
and the cause of all the infant's trouble; or, perhaps, the 
mother feeds and nurses also. 

A careful analysis of the case shows that 

The infant receives all it will swallow; 

At any time it cries, 

Or any time it will take its food 

Of uncertain strength; 

With changes of the food 

At any and all times, 

And more than one change 

Inside of two days. 

All being done 

Regardless of that proof 



FOODS. 157 

Yellow stools for health and growth; green for sick- 
ness and emaciation. 

Which must always guide and direct 
All changes and additions in the food, 
And is seen clearly every day 

In the YELLOW, INODOROUS CHAEACTEE of HEALTHY 
STOOLS. 

Omission to secure and read this stool guide clearly, 
always guarantees a failure in the nutrition and growth 
of the infant. 

The infant, in these cases, is suffering from inflamma- 
tion of the stomach and bowels, produced by this persist- 
ent abuse with unsuitable amounts of unsuitable food at 
unsuitable times. 

Experience shows that these cases must be taken down 
at once to the small amounts of suitable parts in the food 
on which they have existed, and the crude, coarse, indi- 
gestible parts, which have produced the damage, at once 
eliminated. The infant nursing unhealthy milk must be 
weaned, or a wet nurse provided. Proper intervals must 
be allowed between feedings. These are usually about 
two hours, and digestive assistants (Remedy No. 43) 
must be used freely with each feeding, to guarantee suc- 
cessful digestion. Without free use of these digestive 
assistants, the food ferments in these infants' stomachs, 
and thus perpetuates the irritation and inflammation. 

The digestive assistants must be used in sufficient 
quantity, or they are useless. They act on the food by 
digesting it till the stomach is able to do so itself. In 
this way, the infant is properly nourished. As salt is 
necessary in curing meat, and as sugar is needed in cur- 
ing fruit, so are digestive assistants needed freely in 
curing food in these delicate cases. 



158 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



The weak stomach requires assistance to do its work, 
until it is strong enough to do it alone. 



The following tables are constructed to show the diet- 
ary most successful in feeding and nourishing these 
delicate infants. Parents must always remember that 
a stomach once badly irritated by cow's milk or unhealthy 
human milk, is seldom able to digest the proteid, or 
cheesy part of cow's milk again. Even the small amount 
left in the cream seems to tax the stomach to its utmost, 
when diluted cream is fed as a diet. The weight of 
the infant, not the age, must determine the amount 
of the food, and the tender digestive organs must control 
the quality of the food. In no sense can it be fed as a 
healthy, normal infant, or even as one newly born. 

Here, as in all other infants, the healthy, well digest- 
ed, yellow, inodorous stool must always be the guide in 
feeding. The stool of the hand-fed infant is not soft 
and pasty, like that of the nursing infant. 



FOOD 


t 


ELEMENTS IN THE 


FOOD. 


Cream 


1 ounce. 


Fat 


0.50 


Rice water - 


10 ounces. 


Starch 


3.00 


Lime water 


1 ounce. 


Proteid - 


0.18 


Boiled water 


8 ounces. 


Lime - 


5.00 




20 ounces. 


Sugar 


5.00 


Milk sugar, 2 


measures. 






(Figure 


19.) 






Cream - 


2 ounces. 


Fat - 


1.00 


Rice water - 


10 ounces. 


Starch 


3.00 


Lime water 


1 ounce. 


Proteid - 


0.37 


Boiled water 


7 ounces. 


Lime - 


5.00 




20 ounces. 


Sugar 


5.00 


Milk sugar, 2 


measures. 







FOODS. 



159 



Weight, not age, is the true guide in selecting the 
amount and quality of food for a delicate infant. 



Cream - 3 ounces. 

Rice water - 10 ounces. 
Lime water - 1 ounce. 
Boiled water - 6 ounces. 
20 ounces. 
Milk sugar, 2^ measures. 



Fat - 

Starch 

Proteid 

Lime 

Sugar 



1.50 

- 3.00 
0.56 

- 5.00 
5.50 



Cream 


4 ounces. 


Fat - 


— 


2.00 


Rice water 


- 15 ounces. 


Starch - 




■ 4.50 


Lime water 


1 ounce. 


Proteid 


. 


0.75 




20 ounces. 


Lime 




■ 5.00 


Milk sugar, 


2^ measures. 


Sugar 


• 


6.00 



Fat - 

Starch 

Proteid 

Lime 

Sugar 



2.50 

- 4.00 

0.88 

- 5.00 
7.00 



Cream - 5 ounces. 

Rice water - 14 ounces. 

Lime water 1 ounce. 

20 ounces. 

Milk sugar, 2| measures. 

Occasionally, a child rails to digest breast milk, or cow's 
milk, or cream in any form. Whey should then be used 
instead of cream in these formulae. Beef juice may be 
fed alone, or combined with the starch water of rice or 
oatmeal, as follows: 



Beef juice (ex- 
pressed) - 3 ounces. 
Lime water -| ounce. 

Boiled water 6^ ounces. 
10 ounces. 
Season with salt. 



Fat - 

Proteid 

Lime 



0.00 
1.00 
2.50 



160 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Beef tea or beef 

juice (exp'd) 3 ounces. 
Rice water - 3 ounces. 
Lime water \ ounce. 

Boiled water %\ ounces. 

10 ounces. 
Season with salt. 



Fat - 
Starch - 
Proteid 
Lime - 



0.00 

- 2.00 
1.00 

- 2.50 



-^ ounce. 
3A ounces. 



Fat from oatmeal - 1.00 

Starch - - 2.00 

Proteid - - 1.00 

Lime - - 2.50 



Beef tea or beef 

juice (exp'd) 3 ounces. 
Oatmeal water 3 ounces. 
Lime water - 
Boiled water 

10 ounces. 
Season with salt. 
As the stools become formed and of a proper color and 
consistence, the proportion of the starch water may be 
increased till it is fed pure with the beef juice and lime 
water. When that point is reached, the starch jelly may 
be used instead of starch water. The addition of this 
starch will often guarantee success in feeding the young- 
est of these damaged infants. The addition of half a 
teaspoonful of good malt extract to the food just prior 
to feeding, and always after the food has been properly 
heated, will aid materially in the successful digestion 
of these starch waters. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FEEDING. 



What Must I Feed My Baby? 

Each infant is a separate study. The food must be 
adjusted to its digestive power, so as to produce yellow 
stools and consequent healthy development. 



Nature says: 

Be sure you feed sugar — 7 per cent. 
Be sure you feed fat — 4 per cent. 
Be sure you feed proteid — .50 to 1.50 per cent. 
Be sure you dilute these in about 88 per cent, of 
boiled water. 
When old enough — six to nine months — be sure you 
commence feeding well-boiled starch (oatmeal or rice) in 
small quantities, such as will not disturb the stomach or 
change the odor or consistence of the stools. This food 
will give you a healthy, symmetrical, well-developed baby. 
Any food which has not all these items in about these 
percentages will cause the infant to be rickety, weak, and 
delicate. 

All these items are contained only in healthy cow's 
milk, and this can be diluted and altered to make the 
above correct percentages, as they are in human milk. 

161 
li 



162 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



Avoid feeding* at night, if possible, after the first few 
months. The infant's stomach works better when rested 
regularly. 



By watching the stools carefully, you will soon know 
the strength of the infant's digestive glands, and can 
decrease or increase the proteid and fat as the stools, 
sleep, and happiness of the infant demand it. 

Rules for Artificial Feeding. 

A child should not be over twenty minutes in feeding, 
and some should not be five. The nipple should be 
removed as soon as the infant hesitates or falls asleep. 
The nurse should hold the child during nursing, and also 
hold the bottle so that milk and not air comes promptly. 
As nearly as possible the meals should be given regularly, 
but the child should not be waked in order to feed." Some 
latitude in time must be allowed, as the stomach varies in 
the rapidity of its action. The following table is one 
among many showing the ages with number of feedings 
and amounts that are usually successful: 



Age. 


Number 

of 
Feedings 

in 
24 Hours. 


Interval 

Between 

Feedings. 

Hours. 


Night 
Feedings 
(10 p.m. to 

7 A. M.). 


Quantity 
for Each 
Feeding. 
Ounces. 


Quantity 

for 
24 Hours. 
Ounces. 


Third to seventh day. 


10 


2 


2 


1 toll 


10 to 15 


Second to third week 


10 


2 


2 


lito3 


15 to 30 


Fourth to sixth week 


9 


2 


1 


2£ to 3£ 


22 to 32 


Sixth week to third month . 


8 


2i 


1 


3 to4£ 


24 to 36 


Third to sixth month 


7 


3 


1 


4 to5i 


28 to 38 


Sixth to ninth month 


6 


3 





5£to7 


33 to 42 


Ninth to twelfth month 


5 


3i 





7£to9 


37 to 45 



FEEDING. 163 

Cow's milk is the only food that contains the same 
elements as human milk. These elements cannot be 
made in a laboratory. 



Many children do well and feed more frequently at 
night than here shown, but it is best not to feed at 
night, except when compelled to do so. 

The variation in the amounts given at each feeding, as 
well as the total amount for the day, is partly explained 
by the sizes or weights of the children, and partly by their 
appropriating powers. This is the individuality belonging 
to the human family, and the true amount is found by 
each mother looking carefully to feeding all the child will 
perfectly digest, as is proven by the yellow, inodorous, 
mustard paste stools. These always demonstrate the 
thrifty point, and a violation of any one of these stool 
characteristics is sure to lead to imperfect development, 
heralded by the disturbed sleep, crossness, and colicky 
cries of the little one. 

Foul odors, green, watery, or slimy stools always 
accompany this disturbed condition. 

Size of the Stomach. 

As the size of any vessel must control the amount put 
into it, so the size of a child's stomach should regulate 
the amount of food taken at any one time. Frequently 
the writer is asked about the amount that should be fed 
to an infant. A proper knowledge of the healthy, not the 
dilated, size of any child's stomach will answer this ques- 
tion. Overfed children always have dilated stomachs 
(Figure 22), weak from this stretching or overfeeding 
process, and should be under, rather than over, fed till this 
undue or unhealthy dilatation is reduced, and the natural 
strength of the stomach walls recovered. 



164 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



The sizes of healthy infantile stomachs vary greatly. 
Some require more food than others. 




Figure 22. A dilated stomach, caused by overfeeding, at two months. 

The examination of many cases after death shows the 
average size at different ages as follows: 
Birth - - 1.20 ounces, or 9 teaspoonfuls. 

Two weeks - - 1.50 ounces, or 12 teaspoonfuls. 



FEEDING. 165 

Four weeks - 2.25 ounces, or 18 teaspoonfuls. 

Six weeks - - 2.37 ounces, or 19 teaspoonfuls. 

Eight weeks - 3.27 ounces, or 27 teaspoonfuls. 

Ten weeks - - 4.15 ounces, or 33 teaspoonfuls. 

Twelve weeks - 4.50 ounces, or 9 tablespoonfuls. 

Fourteen to eighteen 

weeks - - 5.00 ounces, or 10 tablespoonfuls. 
Five to six months - 5.75 ounces, or 11^ tablespoonfuls. 
Seven to eight months 6.90 ounces, or 14 tablespoonfuls. 
Ten to eleven months 8.15 ounces, or 16 tablespoonfuls. 
Twelve to fourteen 

months - - 8.90 ounces, or 18 tablespoonfuls. 




Figure 23. A healthy stomach at six weeks. 

As these measurements apply to healthy children of 
average size, they cannot always be applicable to sick 
children who have not thrived. 

More correct, generally, is it with these sick children 
to be governed by the size of the child, or rather the 



166 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

In delicate infants, the amount of food is governed 
more by the weight than by the age. To feed for healthy 
stools is the only correct guide. 

" You are stretching my half-pint stomach into a quart 
measure," retorts the crying child to the overfeeding 
mother. 



weight; large children requiring more, and small children 
less food. When the proper amount is selected, the child 
sleeps well and is happy during waking hours, if the food 
is of the proper quality. 

The following table of weights should be the best guide 
when used in connection with the age table: 



Seven months 16^ pounds. 
Eight months 17 pounds. 
Nine months 17^ pounds. 
Ten months - 18 pounds. 
Eleven months 19 pounds. 
Twelve months 20 pounds. 



Birth - - 1\ pounds. 
One month 8 \ pounds. 
Two months 10^ pounds. 
Three months 12 \ pounds. 
Four months 14 pounds. 
Five months 15 pounds. 
Six months 15f pounds. 

From this a mother can see that a sickly child six 
months old, which weighed only twelve pounds, should 
receive at each feeding not more than four and one-half 
ounces, which is the amount a healthy child of three 
months would require. 

It is also apparent that delicate children do not thrive in 
direct proportion to the amount of food they swallow, but 
most certainly in proportion to the amount they digest prop- 
erly, as shown by the healthy yellow stools. This latter 
feature must always be observed for success. 

Mothers must not forget that overfeeding may and does 
dilate the stomach to three and four times its ordinary 
healthy capacity ; that in proportion as it is dilated, so is 
its digestive power weakened, and the health of the child 
impaired. 



FEEDING. 167 

Infante nursing- rapidly always take more food than they 
require. This makes them cross and restless. 

Rapid Feeding. 

The food should not come too rapidly to the infant. 
Such an infant is most likely to be overfed. As there 
requires a sufficient time to elapse before the child feels 
satisfied, he who drinks slowly realizes this sensation 
before receiving too much. This is an argument against 
using nipples too long, or those with large holes in them. 
The flow of milk should be just as slow as will satisfy the 
child, so that he will continue drawing. Parents who are 
accustomed to having the infant empty the nursing bottle 
in two to three minutes, will be surprised to realize that 
the slow nipple, requiring twenty minutes, gives perfect 
satisfaction and comfort and a less amount of food to the 
infant. 

The slow nipple compels the infant to exercise his jaws 
for a long time, and this continued exercise demands a 
continued secretion of saliva, so that the twenty-minute 
feeding will probably secure four times more of this 
digestive fluid than the five-minute feeding. When we 
remember that this four times more saliva is mixed with 
a lesser amount of food, we can see why we must get 
more comfortable results and better growth by this slow 
method of feeding. 

Hand Feeding. 

"While children hand fed are commonly large and heavy, 
they have not the vim and energy of the breast-fed child, 
and the doubt is if they ever catch up in the race of life with 
their more favored brothers. Certain it is that they are 
far behind where they themselves would have been with 
a full supply of breast milk, during their first year's exist- 



168 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The perfect development of the infant is the only true 
guide in feeding-. 

ence. Given a case necessitating hand feeding, it behooves 
us to undertake it intelligently and supply, as nearly as 
possible, what Nature has indicated as the proper food for 
that particular age and weight. To do this, in many 
cases, is accompanied by many difficulties, and in some 
cases almost impossibilities, particularly where the diges- 
tion has been damaged by unsuitable food. 

To overcome these difficulties, and produce healthy, 
vigorous children, mentally and physically, should always 
be our object. 

It is very much to be regretted that so many parents are 
so favorably impressed with the success of hand feeding. 
So common is this impression that some mothers will 
voluntarily relinquish their own supply of milk to raise 
the baby on a bottle. Little do they realize that they are 
robbing the child of that which can never be reimbursed 
to the little one by any other power on earth. Words fail 
to properly express the risks to its life which are thus 
incurred; neither can words describe fully the damage 
to the child's physical development often incurred, even 
if it should live. 

No one can understand these results like the physician, 
who, through long years, is compelled to witness these sad 
mistakes, and is continually called to battle with them pro- 
fessionally, either to save their lives in subsequent sickness, 
or to repair the damages thus inflicted on these little 
ones. So great and decided are these bad results gen- 
erally, that it is with an aching heart and a feeling of 
apprehension that he is compelled, again and again, to 
witness, among his little patients, the abandonment of the 
true " fountain of life" and the adoption of the nursing 



FEEDING. 169 

The mother should never raise an infant on the bottle 
When she can nurse it successfully. 

Successful feeding means more than the size of the 
infant. Heavy babies often have crooked lege. 



bottle and its too often consequent casualties, even in the 
safest of hands. 

If the parents could be made to realize that the ill- 
shaped heads, the tender brains, the defective teeth, the 
knock-knees, the bow-legs, the humpbacks, the scrofulous 
necks, the large abdomens, and bad cachexias of the future 
generations, have commonly their foundations laid in 
healthy children by the unsuitability of their nutrition 
during the first two years of child-life, they would care- 
fully refer this subject to the intelligent physician before 
acting on it themselves. Then we would be gratified to 
find the parents show in this important matter that same 
good judgment which experience has taught them to 
apply to their regular every-day business in order to 
insure success 

Very often parents are inexperienced in this matter, and 
follow the advice of some newspaper advertisement, whose 
object is to make money by finding victims to consume its 
goods; or they accept the dictum of some woman friend, 
who points to her child as an evidence of success in hand 
feeding. This child generally has only its avoirdupois or 
ability to live in spite of hard treatment to recommend it. 
and is really an evidence of failure rather than success. 

Measuring Foods. 

When measuring liquid foods for infant dietary, great 
care should be observed by the mother to arrange the 
daily mixing, so that all the food is one strength, and the 
amount fed does not vary in any way. 



170 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Exact measures should be used in preparing and giving 
the infant's food. Spoons are an uncertain and unequal 
measure. 



To inexperienced mothers this may seem at first thought 
to be of less importance than many mothers have found by 
bitter experience to be the fact. 

Let us look at the daily domestic situation. If any 
lady will make a collection of all the different kinds of 
tablespoons in her house and measure them, she will be 
impressed with their varying size. This can easily be 
done by filling a small cup with each spoon. If water is 
used in filling, there can be no mistake. The difference 
in the number of spoons required to fill the cup from the 
different kinds will show the difference in sizes of spoons. 
This difference in sizes is perhaps more marked in tea- 
spoons than in tablespoons. Great care should always jbe 
exercised in filling the spoon to its full capacity when it is 
used as a measure. Only filling to its fullest capacity is 
the correct measure. As the bowl of the spoon is broad 
and shallow, many think the spoon full when it contains 
little more than half measure. 

Where a number of spoonfuls are to be used daily in 
mixing the food, the mother should try to measure the 
amount correctly into some small toy or fancy cup, and 
then use it as the future measure. Where this cannot be 
done, a particular spoon and a particular filling of it 
should be invariably used to avoid errors. 

Spoons are the most uncertain measure that can be used. 
When any food thicker than milk is used in the diet, 
a spoon measure is not safe. Of gruel, rice, porridge, or 
starch jelly, and other foods of that density, no two persons 
can measure the same amount with a spoon; nor can one 
person measure the same amount twice with any spoon. 



FEEDING. 171 

Small variations in spoon measuring often sickens the 
infant. 

Light feeding may be done from the parents' table, as 
long as the stools show good digestion. 



The little variations thus made by a careful mother will 
seldom disturb the child; but the variations made in this 
way by a careless or overfeeding nurse has frequently given 
the writer sad experience, by causing indigestion and foul 
stools, the origin of which it was very difficult to trace. 

The necessity for using unmistakable measures cannot 
be too strongly impressed on the mother. In strong, 
vigorous infants, these errors can be endured for a time; 
but in delicate, young, or dyspeptic infants, a variation of 
half a teaspoonful will often mean vomiting or foul, slimy 
stools. 

Nursing and Feeding as Commonly Done. 

While it is desirable that a mother should support her 
infant entirely during the early months on breast milk, 
there are many who cannot successfully do it and per- 
form the other duties incumbent upon them. Their health 
is indifferent, or their labors are too irritating and 
uncertain to allow them to secrete a good quality or 
quantity of milk. Under these circumstances, the com- 
mon habit of feeding small amounts of food while the 
mother takes her own meals, will at times lead to good 
results. In this way the child often receives food which 
corrects the bad effects produced by her poor milk. 

Children kept too strictly on an unsuitable or weak milk 
diet soon show rickety or scorbutic results. If the addi- 
tional food can be borne and digested, it tends to correct 
this error. 

This occurs mostly with families who cannot afford to 



172 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

It is safer to feed half meals frequently to a nursing" 
infant, than whole meals occasionally. 



hire a nurse to care for the infant. Unfortunately, tender 
and delicate digestive organs cannot always stand this trial 
at the parents' table, and many die. Only the strongest 
survive this treatment. 

Nursing and Feeding Together. 

Frequently we meet with women who wean a child, not 
because the milk is poor, but because they have not enough 
to satisfy the child. This is a serious error and should 
never be made as long as there is any reasonable amount 
of milk. When we cannot have a full supply of reliable 
food, we are always glad to have one-half that amount. 
It is an easy matter to feed partly when the infant can 
nurse the balance. Such children generally do well and 
grow rapidly. The little milk the mother can supply, 
when good, is of inestimable value, and may save the 
child from serious illness, or may carry it through some 
of the epidemic diseases, when only a small amount 
of food is needed. 

With young infants, where this combination of nursing 
and feeding must be adopted, they should be carried along 
together in daytime, at least, feeding part and nursing the 
balance. 

A whole meal of the new food should not be made at any 
one time, as doing this is likely to cause an attack of indi- 
gestion and subsequent diarrhea. Generally, it is best to 
feed first and finish the meal nursing, as then the child is 
not interrupted in going to sleep. 

Commonly an error is made in these cases by retaining 
the breast for night nursing and feeding only by hand in 
daytime. Mothers must remember that when irregular 



FEEDING. 173 

One whole meal of artificial food to a nursing* infant 
often causes gastritis, fever, and diarrhea. 

"Weigh the baby every week. The scales show the 
actual progress. The eyes are deceived frequently. 

intervals interpose between nursings, the milk is changed 
in quality and becomes colicky. Also, that when the 
breasts are allowed to rest longer than the regular time, 
they soon stop secreting, and weaning is the natural 
result. 

Thus, regular feeding and nursing together secure 
better digestion, better milk, and more milk. 

It is always possible to use a greater range of artificial 
foods when the mother nurses a part of each feeding. 
Bear in mind that in most cases it requires only one 
wrong meal to cause an attack of gastritis, diarrhea, or 
cholera infantum. 

Dilute cream, sweetened lightly, should always be used 
as the auxiliary food during the first six months. When 
the infant grows older and has proven its ability to digest 
correctly the cream mixture, then nursing and feeding may 
be alternated, and stronger food used also. These infants 
require very regular weighing, to make sure that the 
mother's milk is sufficient in quantity and of a good 
quality. Such mothers are very likely to fail entirely in 
their nursing power. 

The greatest watchfulness must be exercised in combined 
nursing and feeding to avoid unhealthy stools. Mothers 
who have only a limited milk supply are very likely to have 
also a poor quality. Their infants are continually having 
colic and disturbed sleep, with changed stools. Such 
mothers commonly do great harm to the infants' digestive 
organs by continuing to nurse them. After a few weeks 
this shows in attacks of indigestion, leaving the infants 
thin, irritable, and liable to frequent sickness. 



174 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Yellow, inodorous, mustard paste stools prove the cor- 
rectness of the infant's diet. 



Where the infant continues uncomfortable, and the 
stools are often unhealthy, it is always better to wean it. 

Where there is a doubt about the quality of the mother's 
milk, it should be used alone for a day, and the character 
of the stools following this single feeding will show the 
suitability of the food. 

How to Select the Dietary of an Infant. 

This is one of the most important points in raising 
children, and yet very simple if given a little thought 
and careful watching. 

In mechanical, chemical, and all other complex opera- 
tions, the process is considered wrong or a failure when 
the product thereof is not up to sample. Why, in the 
human machine, should not this rule apply also? It 
does, and with great force, too; but we intelligent people 
of this nineteenth century are so accustomed to physio- 
logical errors, that a very large proportion of us have 
forgotten, or never knew, the truth in our infantile 
economy. 

Apparently we have overlooked or forgotten that this 
natural infantile machine, when doing perfect work, 
yields a yellow product, perfectly manufactured in all its 
parts, and free from errors of decomposition, which show 
in off colors, bad odors, or undue liquidity. 

While on a milk diet, such should and must be the 
stools of every infant for perfect safety and success — 
yellow, perfectly digested, of a mustard consistence, and 
free from strong or disagreeable odors. Given a child 
with such stools and a mother who sees to it that they are 
always that way, and you have a family who can afford 



FEEDING. 175 

Green, slimy, or foul -smelling" stools warn the mother 
of approaching- danger. 



to laugh at the terrors of the summer season, and stay at 
home while they do it. This child grows all the time. 

On the other hand, look at the infant with green, 
slimy, pasty, or foul-smelling stools, and you see a child 
in imminent danger before or during the approaching 
warm weather, whether it remains at 'home, goes to the 
seaside, the mountains, or the country. For it there is 
no safety for its health, development, or life, as long as 
the result of digestion is of that green, unhealthy char- 
acter. 

How to Obtain Yellow Stools in Infants. 

Granted, then, that yellow, inodorous stools of a mus- 
tard consistence are a necessity in a milk dietary, how 
are you to secure them? Two things must always be 
remembered in feeding infants — quantity and quality. 
Too much food of any kind, even the most suitable, will 
disagree and produce bad stools. Then reduce it till it 
is properly digested and gives the correct stool. This is 
then the proper amount, and must be continued. 

When gradual reduction will not find a point where 
yellow stools result, the food must be changed entirely 
or in part, as it is unsuited to that child's digestive 
organs. Here the quality is wrong. 

This simple process will always correct the evil, or 
show that the child is sick and needs immediate medical 
treatment. The ways of changing the quality are to 
lessen the milk proteid or increase the cream (page 98), 
or both, making only one change every two days, till 
the results of each change demonstrate their benefit or 
prove their failure. Seldom will you be required to reduce 
the sugar, but in some infants this, also, is necessary. 



176 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The fat in cream makes the stools yellow. The pro- 
teid or cheesy part, when in excess, makes them green 
and colicky. Too much sugar causes gas and colic. 



Specimens of Difficult Feeding. 

The following cases illustrate a few of the many diffi- 
culties a mother or nurse may have to contend with in 
feeding young infants. The conditions or combinations 
presented by delicate infants in their first and second 
years are so numerous that it would be futile to consider 
more than a very limited number of them. It is hoped 
that these reports of cases may prove interesting and 
instructive to those mothers and nurses now worrying 
over delicate babes, whose digestive glands are appar- 
ently having difficulty in appropriating enough food to 
properly nourish their owners. The accompanying pic- 
tures show the results obtained from some very uncertain 
beginnings, under the most trying conditions. 

Case I. — P. K., aged one year. This pretty little 
fellow weighed eight and one-half pounds when born, 
and was healthy in every way, but his mother could not 
nurse him. He was fed all kinds of milk foods, and the 
amounts were carefully regulated by the mother. Noth- 
ing seemed to agree with his digestion. He was always 
cross and restless, with nausea and disturbed bowels. 
Stools were foul and very irregular in color, amount, and 
frequency. When six months old he weighed twelve 
pounds, having gained three and one-half pounds. As 
the summer was approaching, the writer advised the 
mother to employ a wet nurse, fearing the infant would 
succumb to the heated term. 

After the wet nurse was secured, the child became 
happy, the bowels regular, and sleep natural. At twelve 
months old, when this picture was taken, he weighed 



FEEDING. 



177 



twenty-four pounds, having gained two pounds a 
month on the wet nurse, against a little over one-half 
pound a month on the best artificial food, prepared 
and fed by a most intelligent, careful, and industrious 
mother. 




This boy is now six years old, strong and healthy, 
having had no sickness since the first six months. 

This was one of the few cases where milk foods could 



178 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

not be adjusted successfully to the infant's digestive 
power, and a wet nurse became a necessity. 

Case II. — R. F., aged seven months. This picture is 
that of a baby at seven months old. The history shows 
the mother unable to nurse her infants. She lost a previous 




child from unsuitable dietary through extreme emaciation 
and loose bowels. 

This child was fed, during the first three months, on all 
kinds of milk and infants' foods, but alternately gained and 
lost weight and size, as everything soon caused vomiting 
and diarrhea. He was always fed too much, and no atten- 



FEEDING. 179 

tion was paid to the character of his stools. He seemed a 
hopeless case when first seen by the writer, as he was 
intensely emaciated. 

In the first prescription, his power to digest dilute milk 
was tested and found almost lost, as it soon caused nausea 
and vomiting. He was then fed diluted cream with lime 
water, to which rice water was added gradually, after 
healthy yellow stools were first procured. The infant was 
weighed regularly every week, and the strength of the cream 
and rice water was increased as rapidly as healthy stools 
allowed, and the scales demanded, to make the weekly five 
to seven ounces gain in weight. The picture shows him 
in perfect health; happy, strong, vigorous, and full sized 
for his age. He had no more difficulty with his food, and 
continued on this same line of diet. 

This case illustrates the common error of giving infant's 
food both too strong and too much daily. Had the feed- 
ing been governed by the principle of, "not enough to cause 
vomiting; and only such quality as will give healthy yellow, 
inodorous stools" he would have thrived from birth. His 
improvement was due to the intelligence and industry of a 
devoted mother. She adhered closely to the food prescribed, 
both in quality and amount, and thus made it a success. 

Case* III. — B. W., aged six years. This bright little 
girl, when an infant, illustrated the complete loss of 
power to digest either human or cow's milk, after cow's 
milk had been improperly fed to her. She weighed six 
and three-quarters pounds when born; was nursed suc- 
cessfully for three months, when the mother's sickness 
forced her to wean the baby. She was then fed on cow's 
milk, diluted in many ways, but with poor success. 

She was seven months old and weighed only eight 
pounds when the writer first saw her and gave an unfa- 



180 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



vorable opinion of her recovery, thinking the child had 
gone beyond that possibility. She was emaciated in the 
extreme, moaning continually, night and day, unable to 




sleep, vomiting all food, and having frequent green, 
slimy, foul stools. She was only a skeleton in appear-, 
ance. 

As this was in October, and very warm weather, a 



FEEDING. 181 

wet nurse seemed the only hope for the infant. Until 
one could be secured, she was fed beef juice only. This 
food checked the moaning, vomiting, and foul stools. 
All hand feeding was stopped when the wet nurse came, 
but her milk caused a return of the moaning, vomiting, 
and foul stools. Being convinced that the infant's milk- 
digesting power was destroyed, the w 7 et nurse was dis- 
charged, and beef juice was resumed with egg water (and 
brandy during hot weather), giving complete success. 
After two months of this food, oatmeal water, boiled three 
hours, was added to the food, and malt extract, also, at 
each feeding. On this diet she grew steadily till twenty- 
two months old, when she was allowed some other food 
also. She is now six years old and perfectly healthy, 
having had no sickness in the last four years. Several 
trials of milk food showed her continued inability to 
digest milk during her second year. 

The error here lay also in feeding the cow's milk 
in unsuitable proportions. If, when weaned at three 
months, while strong and healthy, her milk dietary had 
been carefully adjusted to her digestive power, she would 
undoubtedly have grown and thrived steadily. By the 
failure to do this properly, her milk-digesting glands 
were so irritated and damaged that they were lost 
entirely, and the power to digest milk was, consequently, 
a complete failure. 

Case IV. — L. V., aged six years, is a stout little 
girl, who had a slow beginning. She was hand fed 
all forms of sterilized foods in large quantities, causing 
frequent vomiting, foul stools, and diarrhea. She became 
heavy, dull, and sluggish, w T ith a large abdomen. At 
eighteen months old she would sit on the floor, take little 
interest in surrounding objects or persons, make no move 



182 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

to creep or walk, and protruded her tongue. In many 
ways she resembled a cretin. The writer saw her first at 
this time, and suggested such changes in the amount and 
character of her food as would secure good and perfect 
digestion, as shown by healthy stools. An examination of 
the abdomen showed enough enlargement to bend the 
ends of the lower ribs upward and pull them out of 
position. 

On the corrected diet after two weeks, the child showed 
animation, life, and interest in surrounding things. She 
commenced to creep, and in two months was trying to 
walk. The evil effects of her previous diet gradually 
showed in rickety weakness of the leg bones, as they 
curved under her weight, but these are gradually 
straightening up with her present superb health. 

The continued poisoned condition of the blood from 
badly digested food in this child retarded her mental 
development and weakened the bones, besides growing an 
enormous abdomen. She is now as bright mentally as 
the best of children, but carries yet these marks of her 
weakened era. 

Case V. — The following case illustrates the danger in 
feeding pure cow's milk: V. C. L., aged four years. 
This vigorous little girl is thin, but strong and healthy. 
Her mother consulted me in June regarding the proper 
feeding of her. She was then an infant three months old, 
well and healthy, fed on pure cow's milk. Not knowing 
the mother before, with the nearness of hot weather and 
the perfect health of the child, I told her I could not 
suggest any change except a wet nurse. This was not 
entertained, and the little one sickened with vomiting,, 
diarrhea, and convulsions during the heated term. The 
writer feared she would not survive the attack. All 



FEEDING. 183 

efforts to feed diluted milk, after recovery, proved failures. 
She was then fed on whey and rice water, with sugar and 
lime water added. On this she improved gradually. Some 
months later the mother desired to add milk to 
the diet, but found the addition of one teaspoonful 
to a meal again caused vomiting and foul stools, thus 
showing how poisonous the milk had become to this little 
one. As she became older, the food was gradually 
strengthened on the same lines as the stools allowed it, 
and the child thrived accordingly. She has not been 
sick, except with other forms of trouble, since the 
first year. 

Case VI. — L. L., aged six years. This healthy little 
girl was nursed one month only. She was born in the 
fall, and fed all kinds of sterilized milks and infant foods 
in unlimited amounts. She was first seen by the writer 
when ten months old, She had then been suffering from 
diarrhea and vomiting for four months. The main idea 
in feeding her was to sterilize or boil all her food, and 
then feed all she would take. Sterilization was consid- 
ered everything needed in her case; the kind and amount 
of food were secondary matters. 

When first seen by the writer, the infant was naked, 
lying on a pillow on a table, and the mother was trying 
to sponge her. The infant's eyes were intently watchful 
of every move, lest it should be hurt, and cried with the 
least touch or movement, so sore and tender were its 
limbs. They were swollen and dark colored. 

The mother had, for two weeks, kept the legs swathed 
in cotton batting, as they were too sore to be dressed. 
When she took her out of doors, she was chided by her 
sister, who thought the child was dying. 

In this case, the diet was changed to an entirely raw 



184 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



food — a little 
orange juice. 



cow's milk, and 



breast milk, beef juice, 

In two weeks she was well and happy, 
sitting upon her parent's arms and being carried around 
without the slightest evidence of her former tender and 




painful limbs. She has enjoyed perfect health ever 
since. 

With this child, sterilization was the main source of 
trouble. Overfeeding, probably, added to the difficulty 
also. Infants should have raw milk or cream mixtures 



FEEDING. 185 

always, except when great heat makes it impossible to keep 

the milk from souring unless it is pasteurized or boiled. 

Case VII. — K. D. T., aged four years. This bright, 

strong little lass had severe struggles in her infancy. 




When born, I warned her mother that we would probably 
have trouble feeding her, as the mother wished to nurse 
her, though she was weak and frail herself. She nursed 



186 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

till four months old, when loose bowels and indigestion 
finally compelled us to wean her, after having failed to 
improve the mother's milk. That she should have been 
weaned sooner was proved by the indigestion and loose 
bowels, which continued for six weeks after weaning, 
while fed on pasteurized milk, well diluted. A diet of 
rice water, dilute cream, and lime water produced the 
same disturbance for two months longer. Egg water also 
failed to give relief. She was now ten months old. She 
was then placed on whey, strained Scotch oatmeal water, 
well boiled and sweetened, also lime water, with one tea- 
spoonful of beef juice to each feeding. On this she im- 
proved, steadily gaining in flesh and strength for three 
months. Baked potato, with cream or beef juice, was 
then added successfully to her diet. Since then she has 
grown continuously, and has not been sick, except for 
measles, in the last three years. 

The error in this case occurred in nursing after 
unhealthy, foul stools commenced. The baby should 
have been weaned at once, but the motherly instinct was 
too strong to agree to this change at first. 

Case VIII. — A. McM. This sturdy, active child is now 
four years old, and always going. She was hand fed 
from birth, and weighed six and one-half pounds when 
born. She was fed Mellin's food, malted milk, and modi- 
fied milk, but mostly Mellin's food. All caused constipa- 
tion or diarrhea, with distress, restlessness, and wake- 
fulness. 

When the writer first saw her at six months old, she 
weighed eleven pounds, her gain being nearly one pound 
a month since birth. Her face, limbs, and body were 
covered with eczema, the itching of which kept her awake 
at night. No attention had been paid to the quantity of 



FEEDING. 



187 



food given daily, which was about twice the correct 
amount. She was always greedy. 

The diet was changed to rice water, cream, and a small 
percentage of condensed milk. The amount was care- 




fully regulated to the child's digestive power, as shown 
in the stools. When constipated, oatmeal water was sub- 
stituted for rice water. At eight months she weighed 



188 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

thirteen pounds, and continued to grow steadily after- 
ward. Her eczema gradually disappeared, and some 
months afterward her wakefulness at night also became 
less, so that at two years she rested fairly; well. 

In this case, unsuitable diet caused eczema and marked 
wakefulness. On about one-half the amount of suitable 
food she gained weight more rapidly, the eczema disap- 
peared, and the obstinate sleeplessness gradually sub- 
sided. She has not been sick during the last two and 
one-half years. 

Case IX. — John F. H., aged three and one-half years. 
This sturdy little fellow has already made health history. 
He was hand fed. First two months he had modified 
milk, vomited continually, and acted as if starved. He 
then had pasteurized milk; thrived for two months, then 
sickened as before, with vomiting and diarrhea. During 
his first summer he was fed on malted milk and had 
cholera infantum all the time, as his mother expressed it. 
He thrived for three months at first on the malted milk. 
During all these months he seldom slept more than half 
an hour at one time. 

The salvation of this child is due to his refusal always 
to take more than a very small drink. This feature he 
continues to follow in eating and drinking. 

When first seen by the writer, he was eighteen months 
old, pale, nervous, wakeful, and poorly nourished. His 
stomach and bowels were disturbed. Diluted cream was 
tried, but caused vomiting and diarrhea. He was 
then fed on rice water, with a little milk and sugar. 
This agreed with him. When any cream or milk drink 
was taken, it caused vomiting at once. On this diet, with 
tonics, he improved steadily. Even at two years old he 
could not drink milk or cream, and cannot eat meat now. 




189 



190 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

He lives principally on egg and milk toast in small 
amounts. 

At two and one-half years old he had inflammation of 
the kidneys, and passed no urine for three days. At 
three years old he had croup five times, one time being 
membranous and requiring antitoxine. 
- There is little doubt but the difficulties in dietary were 
the foundation for his croup and kidney trouble. He now 
appears to be bright, strong, rugged, and healthy within 
certain limits, and can take milk or cream in small drinks. 

The difficulty in feeding this child during the first year 
was due to the fact that the milk was not properly 
adjusted to his digestive capacity. His mother did not 
understand this necessity, and did wonderfully well when 
she kept him alive. 

Case X. — Olive E., aged two and one-half years. This 
pretty little miss has been a continual siege to the en- 
durance of her parents. Her mother could not nurse 
her. She was fed on barley water and cow's milk, but 
this caused vomiting. She was then fed all kinds of 
foods, with the same vomiting result. She again re- 
turned, after some months, to barley water and cow's 
milk. She would on this thrive for a week or two, and 
then have a sour vomiting turn for three or four days, " 
during which she would lose flesh again. She could not 
sit up till she was ten months old. During all this time 
she was intensely nervous, and unable to sleep except in 
short spells of half an hour. She would wake at night 
after a short sleep and insist on playing or fretting. Her 
sleep and nervousness were so fickle and erratic that she 
required both parents and a nurse to care for her. She 
was very costive always and medication gave no relief. 
She also had convulsions. 



FEEDING. 



191 



When first seen by the writer, she was twenty months 
old, pale, thin and nervous, never ceasing to demand 
attention and also to be kept moving. She slept little, and 
mother and child were worn out. How she lived on so 




little sleep was a mystery. She could not walk, but she 
whined, cried, or moved continually, and had to be 
always carried. 

Cream and sugar were added to her barley water, and 
the proportion of these, as well as the amount fed, was 



192 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

controlled entirely by the production of healthy, well- 
digested stools. She was also fed one-half teaspoonful of 
butter three times daily. Tonics and digestive assistants 
were given regularly. She improved at once in color, 
flesh, and weight, and walked at twenty-two months old. 
The difficulty in sleeping was not relieved, though she con- 
tinued the same medicine for that which she was taking 
before the writer first saw her. This was finally stopped, 
and with outdoor exercise, better digestion, and more 
strength, she gradually improved in sleeping power. She 
is now strong and well, though at times having some in- 
digestion still when kept in the house. She requires an 
outdoor life on her own feet, to allay nervousness, give 
good sleep, and permanently improve her digestive power. 

This case also illustrates a bad nervous result due to 
long continued feeding on such dietary as did not 
properly nourish her, and also receiving more of it than 
she had power to digest. The indigestion in this case 
was shown by the repeated vomiting, extreme constipa- 
tion, and nerve disturbance. 

This case most strongly illustrated the folly of trying 
to produce sleep in a nervous, unsuccessful, poorly 
developed child by the aid of medicines. She was taking 
almost adult doses of the strongest sleeping remedies, and 
to produce any effect the dose had to be repeated two and 
three times each night. 

In all these poorly nourished infants disturbed and very 
scanty sleep is one of the most trying features of the sick- 
ness. It is probably the most difficult to manage of all 
the errors, and requires the longest time for removal. 
Long after color returns to the cheek, and flesh to the 
limbs the nurse will complain bitterly of the deficient 
sleeping power. 



FEEDING. 



193 



Case XI. — Mary H., aged five years, shows the bad 
effects of poor food after weaning. She was nursed till 
one year old, and was strong and vigorous when weaned. 
Her parents are fruit dealers, and she was allowed an 




unlimited fruit diet after weaning. She did not walk 
till after she was two years old, and then she showed the 
protuberant abdomen, knock-knees and crooked shins of- 
the rickety child. 



13 



194 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The large abdomen is due usually to continual over- 
loading with poor weak diet, such as condensed milk, 
fruits, and proprietary foods. In some it is due to gassy 
fermentation, also from overfeeding, even when fed good 




Case XII. 

food, but in too large quantities. A large, protuberant 
abdomen in an infant is always a sign of weakness. In 
such cases the digestive fluid is not strong enough to 



FEEDING. 195 

FIRST YEAR'S DIET. 

. Diluted cream for the first quarter. 

Diluted cream and a little starch for second quarter. 

Diluted cream, a little milk, and more starch for third 
quarter. 

Little cream, more milk, and more starch for last 
quarter. 



preserve the large amounts of food, and fermentation or 
decomposition of it surely follows, distending the bowels 
with gas, and loading the blood and all organs with 
poisonous products, thus causing poor nutrition and a 
yellowish -white complexion in many. 

Case XII. — Anna H., aged three years, is the sister of 
Case XI. She also illustrates the bad effects of unsuit- 
able food, fruits mostly. She nursed for a year, and 
showed no deformity till over two years old. Her large 
abdomen and crooked leg are due to the same unsuitable 
dietary given her sister. Their parents are Syrians, 
and the little ones suffer from excess of fruit diet, 
as well as crowded unsanitary quarters. In Puerto 
Rico, the poorer inhabitants live almost entirely on a 
fruit diet, and all the children have these large abdo- 
mens. Their open air life largely protects them from 
other deformities. 

General Rules for Dieting Healthy Infants During 
the First Year. 

Divide the year into four quarters. 

During the first quarter, give only a milk diet — human 
milk, or cow's properly humanized. 

During the second quarter, give only a milk diet; but 
in some healthy children with good digestive organs, 
a little oatmeal starch, or other cereal food, if well digest- 
ed, may be added where a sufficiency of healthy milk can- 



196 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Obstinate constipation in the infant shows improper 
food or weak digestion. 

Always consider the weight of the baby in deciding 
the quality and amount of its food. 



not be secured. This new food should be prepared by 
thorough boiling for three or more hours. 

During the third quarter, many children require feed- 
ing to properly supplement the mother's milk, which 
often fails entirely about this, time, or is reduced in 
amount, not being sufficient to satisfy the child. The 
new food should be diluted cream or cow's milk, with 
small amounts of boiled cereals gradually added to it, so 
as to produce healthy, well-digested stools. 

During the last quarter, all children should be weaned 
who are still nursing. The new food should be the same 
as in the third quarter, increasing the strength of the 
milk and the amount of boiled cereals as long as they 
produce healthy stools. 

For children tending to constipation, boiled oatmeal is 
most suitable ; and for those with loose bowels, boiled rice 
or barley gives the best results. 

Either the constipated habit or the loose one may be 
due to imperfect digestion and require cereals previously 
partly digested. This is done by adding extract of malt 
to the boiled starch just as it is cool enough and ready to 
feed to the baby, instead of the plain boiled cereals. 
With failure to regulate the child's bowels in this way, 
we have generally to contend with an indigestion leading 
to rickets. Here the skill of the physician should at 
once be used to correct this damaging tendency, as no 
child can be safe in either the loose or constipated condi- 
tion during the first two years of life. 

Proof of perfect digestion, and consequent good nutri- 



FEEDING. 



197 



Increase the amount and variety of foods according- 
the stools allow you. 



tion, is guaranteed only by perfectly digested stools. If 
these are correct and the infant secures enough food, 
successful development and growth will be the result. 

Feeding Schedule. 

Schedule for feeding an infant from birth upon human- 
ized cow's milk, showing percentages of fat, sugar, and 
proteids, and the daily quantity of food. 



No. 


Age. 


Fat, 
Per Cent. 


Sugar, 
Per Cent. 


Proteids, 
Per Cent. 


Daily 

Quantity, 

Ounces. 


I. 






5.0 




4 to 8 


II. 


Third to tenth day 


2.0 


6.0 


0.60 


10 to 15 


III. 


Two to four weeks 


2.5 


6.0 


0.80 


20 to 30 


IV. 


One to two months 


3.0 


7.0 


1.00 


22 to 36 


V. 


Two to four months 


3.5 


7.0 


1.25 


28 to 38 


VI. 


Four to seven months 


4.0 


7.0 


1.50 


32 to 38 


VII. 


Seven to nine months 


4.0 


7.0 


2.00 


34 to 42 


VIII. 


Nine to twelve months ..... 


4.0 


6.0 


2.50 


38 to 45 


IX. 


Twelve to fifteen months . . . 


3.5 


5.0 


4.00 


40 to 50 


X. 


Fifteen months, whole milk . 


3.5 


4.5 


4.00 


50 



The range in amount fed results from the variation 
of weights in children of the same age. Newborn chil- 
dren generally average from five to ten pounds in weight, 
many being less, and others even more than this. No 
person would think of feeding a five-pound baby the same 
as a ten-pound one; so in all ages weight must be con- 
sidered in fixing the amount to be fed. 

By using this schedule, in connection with the feed- 



198 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Too frequent or irregular feeding causes colic and 
poor development. 



ing rules given on pages 165 and 166, the food 
suitable to any healthy child can be at once selected. 
This applies to children whose digestive organs are 
natural and healthy, and have never been damaged by 
overfeeding or using unsuitable food. In damaged cases, 
the food suitable to their weight, not their age, is the one 
needed. In many of these cases, or most of them, only 
a diluted cream, with some well-prepared dilute starchy 
food, will be found successful. (Seepages 109 to 112.) 
Few children should be kept on a purely milk food till 
one year old. Such cases are the exception, and are only 
permissible when their digestion will not accept of an 
addition of starch earlier. The rule should be to use 
these percentages of milk elements with a fair addition of 
oatmeal, rice, or barley starch, as early as it will be thor- 
oughly digested. 

Errors in Frequency of Feeding. 

These occur in nursed and hand-fed infants. 

Too frequent nursing in some women causes a colicky 
milk, which does not properly nourish the child. This is 
shown by the green or slime in the stools. It is cross, 
restless, and sleeps poorly. This in turn disturbs and 
fatigues the mother, increasing the milk difficulty and 
making the child sicker. Such mothers should be rested 
well, the child cared for by another, and only brought to 
the mother for nursing at regular intervals. This will 
generally recuperate the tired mother and secure more 
and better milk. This is a common error, and prevents 
growth of the child. 



FEEDING. 199 

If the baby cries, she is hungry. 

If the baby whines, she must be hungry. 

If the baby has colic, of course she is hungry. 

If the baby does not sleep, "why, she is hungry. 

If the baby vomits half a meal, feed her again, she is 
hungry. 

If the baby has fever and is restless, I "would feed her 
again, she surely is hungry. 

But I just fed her, and she vomited. Never mind, feed 
her again. 

The above is common, but senseless advice often given 
to young mothers. 



The same error in hand-fed infants results in over- 
feeding, a dilated stomach, and consequent poor digestion. 
These children grow large abdomens and have foul, un- 
healthy stools. One meal should always be digested 
before the next one is taken. 

Right here young mothers will continually have to 
contend with the numerous suggestions of friends and 
older mothers that the baby is hungry and should be fed 
when it cries. Let her not forget that these suggestions 
are only surface opinions. They are made without 
reason, on the universal kindly impulse to feed an infant, 
and are most generally of no value. Let the mother not 
forget that crying with foul stools does not arise from 
hunger, but generally from the results of too much food. 

Changes in Dietary. 

Great care must be exercised in following the dietary 
and its results. Where changes of food are necessary or 
desirable, only one change in amount or quality should 
be made in any one day, and its effects on the stools 
noted carefully for two days before making another 
change. This will give time to prove the correctness of 
the last one, and avoid the confusion, which always fol- 



200 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Make only one change at any time in amount or 
quality of food. Prove it by a two days' wait till the 
stools show the result. 

"By their stools ye shall know them," saith the phy- 
sician. 



lows more rapid changes. By following this plan, an 
error is detected at once, and the child little, if any, dam- 
aged before its correction is possible. This rule invari- 
ably secures steady growth and good health, as mistakes, 
if any, are short lived and easily corrected. 

The Overfed Nursing Baby. 

This, also, is often the baby that is fed every time it 
cries; but as we have no way of measuring the amount 
nursed daily, it is more difficult to convince the mother 
that she is overfeeding. All we can do is, show the 
mother that the surplus thrown up after each feeding is 
wasted food and strength, no benefit to the child, and a loss 
to her; that each meal should be digested before the next 
one is taken, and that unless these rules are observed, 
there is no chance to secure those yellow, inodorous 
stools, of a mustard consistence, — the only kind on which 
the child will steadily thrive, be happy, and free from 
colic and all bowel complications. Could we only grind 
this fact into every mother's fiber, indelibly and unchange- 
ably, we would at once rob the nursing infantile period 
of all its dangers from teething and bowel complications. 

As long as the mother with plenty of milk finds either 
curds, green, or slime in the stools, mixed with plenty 
bright orange yellow, she may be sure the infant is 
receiving too much milk, and will be happier and grow 
better with less. 



FEEDING. 201 

The overfed child is always cross, gassy, and restless 
at night. 



Overfeeding Causes Disturbed Sleep. 

Troubled sleep always accompanies an overfed condi- 
tion. The child will roll and toss around in bed, crying 
out and half waking. Strange as it may seem, the over- 
fed infant will nearly always demand and take more 
drink, thus continuing this distended and distressed con- 
dition of the stomach. Parents, generally, do not realize 
this peculiarity, and friends never do. The latter always 
insist that this so-called cross baby needs more food, and 
advise accordingly. Such children generally suffer from 
repeated vomiting attacks and diarrheal disturbances. 
These attacks are often accompanied by fever, at times 
very high, which subsides in twelve to thirty hours; but 
in aggravated cases, may last for many days or even tend 
to assume a typhoid condition. Such children cannot 
thrive until their diet is reduced to the amount suitable 
for their digestion. This reduction must be continued 
till the healthy, well-digested stools show that the proper 
adjustment of food to digestive capacity has been se- 
cured. 

How to Detect an Overfed Child. 

The physician's attention is continually drawn to the 
baby on account of its crossness or colic Particularly 
is this the case with hand-fed infants. The cross baby 
may be any age, from one week to one year or more. It 
always vomits some, may have any condition of stool ex- 
cept yelloiv, of a mustard consistence and inodorous; 
and any number from none (except by help) to twenty 
in the day. Added to these symptoms is the fact that 
instead of sleeping as it should, the greater part of its 
time it yells and cries almost incessantly. 



202 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

In cereals, the outside coat makes strength, the in- 
side contents make heat. 



The following conversation with the mother generally 
follows the physician's visit: 

How old is your baby? 

Three months old. 

How long has it been cross like this? 

Ever since it was born. 

How heavy was it when born? 

Seven pounds. 

What is its present weight? 

It weighed nine pounds last week. It was heavier, but 
it is falling off again. 

What are you feeding it? 

I have fed nearly everything, but nothing agrees with 
it except for a day or two. I have tried cow's milk, all 
the patent foods, crackers, bread, in fact everything, but 
all are the. same. It cries all the time. 

How often do you feed it ? 

Whenever it cries. 

And how much do you give at a feeding? 

All it will take, and then it is not satisfied ; it is 
always hungry. 

Well now, how many feedings does the child get in the 
daytime? 

That varies. Sometimes it wants food every hour, and 
other times it may go an hour and a half, or even two 
hours occasionally. 

Will it average three feedings in the forenoon and three 
in the afternoon? 

Yes, sometimes more. 

Well, how often in the night? 

Pretty nearly the same, every two hours at least. 



FEEDING. 203 

The overfed child is uncomfortable, and drinks be- 
cause it is so. 

Excessive feeding creates the desire for more. The 
overfed child divides its time between crying', vomiting, 
purging- and drinking, with a little sleep intermingled. 



Will it feed four times during the night ? 

Yes; sometimes oftener. 

Well, six feedings in the day and four at night make 
ten feedings daily. Is that about the average? 

Yes; fully that. 

Now, how much do you give it each time? 

Oh, I nil the bottle, and that holds six ounces, but it 
does not drink it all every time. 

"Well, about how much will it take each time on the 
average, two-thirds of what you prepare? 

Yes, I think so; sometimes more, other times less, but 
fully two- thirds on an average. 

That would be four ounces, and ten feedings of this 
daily would make forty ounces each day for the baby. 

Yes, about that. 

Well, now the baby weighs nine pounds. How much 
do you weigh yourself? 

About one hundred and ten pounds. 

You are then twelve times heavier than the baby, and 
of course you should be able to take nearly twelve times 
more food than the little one. The baby takes forty 
ounces, or two and a half pints daily. Twelve times that 
amount makes thirty pints daily. Do you think you 
could take that amount of food each day? 

Why, certainly not. I never looked at it that way 
before. I thought if the baby cried it was hungry. 

Such is the usual history presented by a mother who 
asks advice for a cross or colicky baby when hand fed. 



204 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

" TOO MUCH FOOD "—THE INFANTILE EPITAPH. 

Always give milk as a FOOD, and only at regular 
intervals. Give water to the craving, thirsty infant 
between meals. 



Only by a comparison with her own digestive capacity 
can she fully realize the enormous mistake she has been 
making. Then, and only then, will she intelligently per- 
severe in reducing the amount of the infant's dietary. 

How to Reduce a Child's Food. 

Overfeeding a child causes an abnormal growth or ex- 
pansion of the stomach, until it becomes out of propor- 
tion to the rest of the body. This unhealthy enlargement 
is not accompanied by increased digestive power; but on 
the contrary, through fermentation of the excessive 
amount in the organ, a poison is established which 
irritates the stomach, reduces its digestive secretions, 
and establishes a craving thirst. 

If the mother would treat the thirst in the baby as she 
treats her own thirst, she would at once solve this ten- 
dency to overfeeding. When thirsty herself, she drinks 
water; but when the baby is thirsty, she gives it milk, 
which should always be considered as a food and not as a 
drink. When the weather is warm or the baby unusu- 
ally greedy, water should be given at all times when the 
child makes an unusual demand. In fact, the very con- 
ditions which make an unusual craving are the strong- 
est argument in favor of a reduced dietary. These are 
usually hot weather, the thirsty craving of an overfed or 
irritated stomach, and the generally feverish condition 
of a sick child. Great care must be exercised to give 
more water and less milk in these conditions of the in- 
fant. 



FEEDING. 205 

Reduce the infant's food by diluting it. This satisfies 
unhealthy craving" for quantity, and secures rest to the 
tired stomach. 



There are conditions which make a gradual increase 
in the child's dietary necessary, as in the convalescence 
from sickness and in the regular process of growth. In 
trying to meet these, feeding is often overdone. 

Again, with a cross child the mother makes the error 
of attributing the crossness to hunger. Right here lies 
the common mistake. If the mother gave more water 
at some feedings, the child would not suffer so much from 
overgrowth of the stomach. 

When it becomes necessary to reduce the diet, this 
thirst must be remembered and satisfied, or the child can- 
not rest. Probably the little one will refuse to take 
boiled water alone, and then it should be mixed with the 
food. In other words, to reduce dietary, make the food 
more dilute, and gradually reduce the amount as the 
child's thirst decreases. 

The question will at once arise, "How much must I 
reduce the food?" 

Until the stools are yellow, of a proper consistence 
and inodorous. 

Food in the Stools. 

This is a very common result, and often due to the very 
serious error of overfeeding. While this happens con- 
tinually and does no harm, there are many instances 
where this little error is the commencement of the child's 
death. 

Such an error as this becomes dangerous in deli- 
cate children, and particularly during the warm weather. 
While commonly food will appear unchanged mostly in 
the stools, yet often it ferments and causes attacks of 



206 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Food in the stools is dangerous to delicate infants. 
The diet should be reduced at once or the food changed. 

very severe cholera infantum. As this is the most violent 
disturbance of the bowels, as well as the most fatal, it can 
well be seen that the overfed child should have a reduced 
dietary. Remember, also, that such children do not 
thrive as well, because the extra amount of food loosens 
the bowels and prevents proper nutrition. 

Here we have two reasons against allowing a dietary 
where the food appears in the stools — poor nutrition and 
growth of the child, and the danger of causing cholera 
infantum. For this simple error thousands of children 
are buried every year in this country. 

If a reduction of the food does not correct this error in 
the stools, then there is necessity for a change in the diet- 
ary at once. The food must be adjusted so as to produce 
yellow, inodorous, mushy stool, for the safety of the child. 

This may involve weaning, stopping milk diet, human- 
izing the milk, or using only some of the components of 
the milk; but whatever it requires, must be done at once 
for the child's present and future safety. 

Reduce the Food in Sickness. 

Mothers should remember to reduce the food of the 
sick infant and increase the drinking of water in all 
thirsty forms of sickness. Too often the parents forget 
that milk is both food and drink, and do not stop or 
reduce its use temporarily in the beginning of the infant's 
sickness. Here always the same privilege should be 
accorded the infant that adults claim invariably for them- 
selves in like sick conditions, — that is to stop eating till 
the appetite returns. This is an absolute necessity, and 
its neglect frequently means the death of the child. 



FEEDING. 207 

A sick child has a reduced digestive power. This 
should always secure a reduced dietary. 



Parents must always classify milk as a food, which is 
never to be given to the sick infant except as a food. 
Thirst must always be satisfied with water. 

In direct proportion with the severity of the sickness 
is the necessity for this most rigid reduced dietary, es- 
pecially in the beginning of the attack of sickness. 

Summer Rules in Dieting. 

The great mortality every year from disturbances of 
the digestive organs during June, July, August, and 
September, causes much anxiety to parents, and justly so, 
too. Most of this sickness and its bad results may be 
avoided by intelligence and watchfulness. All children 
under two years old require strict dietetic regulations to 
protect them at all seasons, but particularly during the 
warm weather, from June 1st to October 1st. 

Prior to June 1st each year, the dietary of infants, in 
the first year particularly, should be established, and no 
changes, save in quantity, allowed till the following 
October. If this were carefully and strictly observed, 
there would be little, if any, danger from digestive or 
bowel disturbance during the summer. True it is, that 
excess of the most suitable diet will fail of perfect diges- 
tion at times, and cause a diarrheal disturbance; but the 
great majority of summer sicknesses are due to unsuitable 
quality of the food and consequent imperfect digestion. 

Feeding Children of Wealthy Parents. 

Wealthy people, who always have nurses to care for 
the little ones, are not exposed to temptations in feeding 
irregularly. When they are hand feeding the baby, it 



208 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The diet that is well digested in May should be 
continued till October. This protects the infant against 
cholera infantum in July. 

The wealthy do not have everything. In health and 
growth their children have hard work keeping pace with 
the poor. 



is necessary that fixed rules should be given for dieting 
the little one, to avoid the disastrous results sure to fol- 
low any other course. While these fixed rules will gen- 
erally save the child from the extreme dangers following 
digestive derangements, yet among these children we 
find most frequently the bad results following an 
insufficient or too rigid dietary. Too frequently the 
future success of the infant is jeopardized by present 
apparent success in feeding a sugary or thin food lacking 
some of the elements necessary for perfect nutrition. 

This is illustrated in a wet nurse whose milk does not 
make the necessary one-half to three-quarters of a pound 
gain weekly. 

It is also illustrated in a diet of humanized cow's milk 
only when the milk is poor in quality, or not properly 
increased in strength as the infant grows older. 

Again we see it where much beef tea is fed instead of 
milk, or fed without a liberal addition of rice, barley, or 
bread. 

Varieties in Foods. 

Only during the early months of infantile life can it 
be said that the infant does not require variety in its 
food. More properly may it be said that variety injures 
the healthy nursing infant, but benefits the weaned one. 

While we divide all food into two classes, animal and 
vegetable, and then consider all animal foods as nitro- 
genous ones, and all vegetable foods as starchy ones, we 
must not select one from each class and then continue to 



FEEDING. 209 

The infantile digestion demands changes after -wean- 
ing". These changes must not be made to an all starch 
or all animal food. 

Small substitutions, not additions, of food, act as 
stimulants to the digestive secretions, and benefit the 
child. 



feed these without change, thinking we are thus supply- 
ing all the elements needed for nutrition and growth. 

This process is successful in the early months of life, 
but when all the digestive glands are developed, the in- 
fant demands variety in tastes of food, even though the 
elements of the food are practically the same. The dif- 
ferent flavors and tastes in milk, egg, and meat, give a 
relish to the taste and a stimulus to the gastric secre- 
tions and consequent digestive power that necessarily 
secures a better nutrition. 

The same condition exists in the varieties of starch, 
oatmeal, rice, bread, biscuit, and light cake. 

While cake certainly cannot be classed as a pure 
starchy food, the greater portion of it is made from flour 
which is a pure starch. The fact that starch in this 
form is received with such a relish by children, only goes 
to show that variety in the preparation of the food is also 
a valuable adjunct to proper nutrition. Infants' tastes 
should be studied after they are weaned and well in 
health. As soon as they refuse the food, or show a hesi- 
tancy in partaking of it, a change in the kind in that 
class should be tried. 

Only two rules must be observed in this work with 
infants under two years of age. The first is to always 
make these changes subject to perfect digestion, as shown 
in the stools; and the second is to make no unproven 
changes during the hot season of the year. Violation of 
these two rules causes thousands of deaths every summer 



210 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Indigestion in the infant is most difficult to correct. 
Quality of food is next to quantity of it. 

among our infants. In fact, such violations cause more 
sickness and deaths yearly, than do smallpox, scarlet 
fever, measles, and diphtheria combined. 

When changing one food for another do it gradually, 
being most careful not to increase the actual amount of 
food at any meal. 

Difficulties in Hand Feeding. 

Nearly every woman and even some men assume to di- 
rect the dietary of their friends' delicate baby, but there 
are a few intelligent parents who have been compelled 
to realize from their own experience that this is in deli- 
cate children one of the most difficult things to do, and 
they avoid giving advice. In some cases, it is an impos- 
sibility to suit the digestive organs continuously. While 
the food will apparently be suitable, the child will be the 
subject of recurring attacks of indigestion or diarrhea. 
Efforts to keep within its digestive capacity lead occa- 
sionally to pale, delicate children, who are always a 
great anxiety to their parents. There is nothing more 
difficult for the physician to adjust than this dietary in 
many cases, and there is nothing so important for the 
future welfare of the little one. 

Necessities Which Must be Observed in Hand 

Feeding. 

The first necessity is to procure a food that the child 
can digest perfectly, as proven by the yellow semi-solid 
stools. The second necessity is that the child can digest 
enough of this food to nourish it and make it grow. The 
third necessity is that the food shall contain abundance 



FEEDING. 211 

Every mother should observe regularly the odor of 
the infant's breath and the coating", if any, on its tongue. 
They indicate dietetic errors. 



of all the elements needed to develop the child, both 
mentally and physically. Human milk does all of these, 
and nothing else has yet been found or made that can 
compete with it. Good cow's milk carefully adjusted 
to the child's digestive ability is the next safest food, and 
after these the meat juices, raw or cooked, with a fair 
proportion of rice or barley starch, promise most 
success. 

Coated Tongue and Foul Breath. 

The loving, nervous mother, in her continual joy and 
watchfulness, notices every change in the infant's condi- 
tion. Continually does she notice the white coating on 
the infant's tongue and the foul odor on its breath as 
soon as these appear. These are important matters, 
though not heeded by many mothers with healthy, strong 
infants, who can resist the digestive disturbances of 
which these symptoms are an evidence. 

Every mother should notice carefully the odor on the 
infant's breath, or rather the absence of odor, which is 
the evidence of good digestion. Where the infant's 
tongue shows a disposition to a frequent white coating, 
or the breath to become foul, the mother should change 
the quality of the food or lessen the amount fed each 
day. Improperly digested food is always likely to pro- 
duce these results. The constant repetition of such diet 
s likely to result in nausea, diarrhea, or febrile disturb- 
ances. While these are not generally serious in cold 
weather, they commonly lead to dangerous or fatal results 
In hot weather. 
, Children who sleep with the mouth open always have 



212 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Mothers must avoid fixed rules in feeding-. Each in- 
fant is a law to itself. 



a foul breath in the morning. The morning foul breath 
is not referred to in the above remarks. 

Ingrained Habits and Thoughts. 

We are all the followers of habit. This propensity 
crops out early. The infant cries when washed or 
dressed, and having done so a few times continues to do 
so always. 

The youth who learns habits of indolence fights for 
their continuance indefinitely. 

The adult who has learned to smoke rarely stops. 

The mother who has learned to feed her children all 
they desire, and whatever they desire, seldom can be 
taught the necessity of doing otherwise with another 
child, even when sick. 

The friend or mother who has learned the habit of 
talking thus and so about infants, continues to push her 
advice about all infantile subjects, upon all the young 
mothers she knows, regardless of the different kinds of 
children and the different characters of the new mothers. 

The mother of strong, vigorous children, whom she 
nurses most of the first year, too frequently lacks the 
patience and charity needed when considering the exi- 
gencies surrounding a mother with a delicate child, 
especially when hand fed. 

The mother of a strong infant who successfully cries, 
yells, and moans through three months of green stools, 
colic and misery, and still survives, is too apt to think 
that the intelligent efforts of her young neighbor in 
checking such suffering in her infant are all nonsense. 

The mother who refers all diarrhea, fever, convulsions, 



FEEDING. 213 

Nature delights in variety. She never makes two in- 
fants similar in appearance or in dietetic necessities. 



and other sicknesses, in infants over three months old, 
to teething or worms, sneers at the intelligent dietary and 
good management by which the young mother with her 
first infant in the hottest of weather avoids these infan- 
tile disturbances. 

Many mothers in their obstinacy and clinging to old 
practices are like the anxious and distressed mother, who, 
when seeking advice from a physician for her sixth child, 
then very sick, deplored her sad bereavements as follows : 
" Doctor, I have lost five children while teething, and this 
one is going the same way as the rest did. I am sure 
I could not do more for them, for I bought them all the 
very best cornstarch I could get, and fed them nothing 
else." 

Nor are the mothers alone; we physicians are much 
the same in many things. Nor are the mothers and 
physicians alone* in this clinging to one idea. It is a 
part of humanity, and all do it in some lines. Let us, 
then, remember to be charitable to mothers, who always 
do the very best they can for all sick infants, accord- 
ing to their judgment and facilities. 

Comparative Development of Nursed and Hand- 
Fed Infants. 

Dr. Routh gives statistics obtained from records kept 
in the Children's Hospital, Manchester, England. These 
show that six children are perfectly nourished and well 
developed when nursed, for every one showing the same 
result from hand feeding, at one year old. 

While this may be worse in hospital life than in pri- 
vate families, yet it shows where and how difficulties arise 



214 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY, 

Only with cow's milk is it possible to imitate good 
maternal feeding-. No other food contains the elements 
needed for perfect development. 



most frequently. It also shows the great necessity there 
is for education and judgment in this most important 
duty to our offspring. 

Certain it is that this great disproportion in results is 
not necessary. While we must all acknowledge the great 
superiority of good maternal feeding during the first year, 
yet we cannot but deprecate the results above cited by 
Dr. Eouth. 

The experience of physicians in private practice shows 
first-class developmental results from hand feeding when 
intelligently done; but all have most faith in good ma- 
ternal feeding. 

The best development follows only one food, moth- 
er's milk. To obtain this result, all foods used must be 
copies of this diet. Only in cow's milk is this near being 
a possibility. In no other food or combination can these 
elements of nutrition be present or found, 

Large Abdomens from Poor or Unsuitable Food. 

Mothers should remember that only perfect symmetry 
in the shape of the baby harmonizes with perfect health. 
Often a large abdomen is overlooked by parents or as 
cribed to naturalness in the infant. u Oh! My baby al- 
ways has a large stomach," many mothers will say. They 
do not seem to realize that this is unnatural and a sign 
of weakness Where is the healthy nursing infant with 
a large stomach ? 

Look at the infant fed on condensed milk and many 
patent foods, see the enlarged size of his abdomen; note 
his yellow-white color, and slowness in creeping, walking, 



FEEDING. 215 

"Weak foods make large abdomens and sluggish 
babies with weak legs. 

Large abdomens are always due to disease or errors 
in feeding. 



teething, and talking. When old enough to walk a little, 
or about eighteen to twenty-four months, also observe 
his crooked legs, his slow, lethargic movements, fewness 
of teeth, and lack of life. 

Change his diet to a nourishing raw milk and starch 
food, properly prepared; give him that amount only 
which shows healthy, well digested, yellowish stools; 
and then note the improvement in life, animation, vigor, 
noise and happiness, which he soon displays. At the 
same time observe the reduction in the size of the pro- 
tuberant abdomen, and you will be impressed with the 
fact, that as it grows smaller, the child in every mental 
and physical power grows larger. Any one following 
these changes will be convinced that a large abdomen 
is a sign of weakness in an infant, never natural in a 
healthy child, and always due in these cases to a poor, 
weak diet, and overcrowding of the digestive organs 
till they are large enough to receive the great amounts 
of this weak food required to nourish the body. 

These children always remind the writer of the im- 
mense abdominal capacity of animals feeding on grass 
alone: or of those children in the torrid zone who live on 
fruit only. 

Mothers must remember always that as the infant's ab- 
domen enlarges unduly, so are her errors of feeding it 
increasing in like proportion. 

The following babies illustrate this subject at different 
ages by the shapes and sizes of their abdomens: 



216 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 




Figure 24. 

This healthy baby is four months old and nurses his 
mother. Notice the size of his abdomen and where it joins 
the ribs. This is always the appearance of a perfectly 
healthy nursed baby. The abdomen never rises above the 
ribs. 




Figure 25. 

This shows the outline of a healthy nursing infant 
while sitting up. The abdomen does not project beyond 
the ribs on the sides. 



FEEDING. 



217 




Figure 26. 

This shows a little girl sixteen months old. She was 
nursed only four months, and then hand fed. 



She 




Figure 27. 

suffered a serious sickness from injudicious feeding at 
ten months, from which she recovered on a dilute cream 
and rice-water diet. She preserved her symmetrical 
appearance by having only milk and rice or oatmeal 



218 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



porridge, in suitable amounts. Her mother is guided 
entirely by the odor, color, and consistence of the stools 
in fixing the amount of food, and kind of it also. 

Figure 27 is the sixteen months old infant in Figure 26. 
This upright position shows her correct abdominal form 
from another view. Children with abdomens like the 
above seldom suffer from stomach and bowel disturb- 
ances. They grow steadily and are strong. 



m 



Figure 28. 

This little girl is twenty-two months old and makes no 
attempt at walking. Her legs are very small and also 
crooked. She is fat at all points except the legs. She 
has been fed almost entirely on condensed milk since 
birth, and her flesh is of the white, soft character, having 
little strength. Notice the shape and size of her abdomen, 
how it projects beyond the ribs. Such infants are always 
feeble, and are always dangerous in moderate sicknesses.. 



FEEDING. 



219 




Figure 29. 

This shows the abdominal appearance of Figure 28 
when lying down. As she moved her arm while being 
photographed, she appears not to have the left one. The 
elbow can be seen just above the face. 






i 





This little girl was nine months old, weaned at six 
months, and given all kinds of food which her mother 



220 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



ate. As the mother expressed it, " She eats everything.'* 
She was carefully dieted at once, fearing an attack of 
diarrhea in the approaching hot weather. She improved 
rapidly, and the large abdomen was much reduced in 
size through having healthy yellow stools. Unfortun- 
ately, on a hot day she was given, when thirsty, a drink 
of cold milk instead of water. This was not digested, 
and caused the dreaded diarrhea. She recovered from 
this in a few days, and was playing with her toes one 
morning during convalescence, when she was seized with 
convulsions and died in half an hour. This is one of the 
greatest dangers following unsuitable feeding. 




Figure 31. 

This shows the abdominal appearance of Figure 30 
when lying down. 




Figure 32. 

This represents a rickety child, persistently and long 
fed on diet producing frequent gassy, foul, watery stools, 



FEEDING. 



221 



mostly of a greenish or clay color. The amount fed 
daily is far in excess of the infant's necessities, or its 
abilities to digest. Naturally, the food must decompose 
in the stomach and bowels instead of being digested, 
and Nature is continually trying to unload this foul mass 
by frequent stools Notice the general emaciation and 
the large size of the abdomen. This child is starving 
in the midst of a great superabundance. 




Figure 33. 

This represents Figure 32 in an advanced stage of 
bowel disturbance. Persistent dietetic abuse finally 
causes Nature to repudiate such treatment, and an attack 
of cholera infantum, through vomiting and purging, 
quickly removes the large abdomen. Such cases always 
die, and do so quickly. Treatment is never of any ben- 
efit to them. 




Figure 34. 



This shows a plump, fat infant, receiving a too gener- 
ous supply of condensed milk, prepared foods, or even 
cow's milk. Infants showing the above outlines are very 
exacting in their demands for food. They want to eat 



222 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

frequently and in large amounts. Usually they are 
irritable in daytime and poor sleepers at night. Par- 
ents frequently look on the large abdomen in such 
infants as an evidence of strength. This is a mistake; 
it is an evidence of weakness and a source of danger. 




Figure 35. 

This is an exaggerated condition of Figure 34. "While, 
in cold weather an infant will remain well with this pro- 
tuberant abdomen, it is almost sure to become sick dur- 
ing the first few hot days. In these infants the digestive 
glands are strained to their utmost to perform the labor 
imposed on them by such generous feeding. The hot 
days reduce the digestive power, and unless the food be 
reduced accordingly, diarrhea, fever and vomiting quick- 
ly ensue, destroying many of them. 

Diseases Caused by Improper Feeding. 

Improper feeding causes the following diseases and 
ailments: 

Acute Diseases. — Crossness, sleeplessness, sore mouth, 
indigestion, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, fevers, 
colic, eczema, skin eruptions, kidney congestion, convul- 
sions, itching, frequent urination. 

Chronic Diseases. — Indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, 
malnutrition, marasmus, ulcers in the mouth, imperfect 
development, slow growth, dwarfs, slow teething, bad 
teeth, crooked limbs, weak limbs, crooked spines, large 
heads, ill-shaped heads, bad complexions, face eruptions, 



FEEDING. 223 

These infants should live outside the house, and have 
change of residence, in hot weather, to cooler parts. 

large abdomens, enlarged liver, diseased kidneys, scurvy, 
rickets, and others. 

With these difficult cases there is danger of becoming 
too limited in variety of food, and thus the infant gradu- 
ally loses its appetite. The mother should continually 
add variety or change the cereal as the infant grows 
older, being careful to substitute rather than add food. 
Additions should be made in such small amounts only as 
can do little damage if not successfully digested. The 
same changes can be made in the milk dietary by feeding 
beef tea or mutton broth once daily. Variety stimulates 
the digestive glands to greater effort, and secures a better 
digestion and nutrition. 

Infant Prescribing. 

There is no single feature in the practice of medicine 
that requires such careful study and close observation as 
infant feeding during the first two years. Unfortunately, 
it is too often treated as a small matter, which any 
mother can handle successfully. Parents do not always 
realize that errors here are like the proverbial "grain of 
mustard seed," growing into the great tree of bad results 
in the future. Were it not that these errors too fre- 
quently produce irreparable results, permanently damag- 
ing the infant or laying the commencement of its death, 
it would not be necessary to give this subject so much 
attention. 

The mother who accepts any person's directions, or the 
physician who does not consume more time in prescribing 
the diet than he does the medicine in ordinary cases of 
sickness, does not realize the importance or difficulties 



224 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The proper nutrition of the infant must be observed and 
secured in all sickness. 



belonging to infantile nutrition. The foundation of clear 
medical work rests on a perfect understanding of this 
subject. Without this, too often, empiricism and guess- 
work reign supreme, and serious sicknesses are sure to 
follow. 

Information Needed in Dieting an Infant. 

Regarding the father : 

His height, weight, general health. 
Health of his family (tubercular or not). 
His occupation (office or outside work). 
His color (pale or florid). 
What sicknesses has or does he suffer from? 
Is he a hearty eater? 
Regarding the mother: 

Age? What sicknesses has she had? State fully. 

Health now? 

Health previous to pregnancy? 

Present weight? 

Former weight? 

First child or not? 

Has she plenty of milk for the baby? 

Did she nurse previous child? If so, had she plenty 

of milk for it ? 
Was previous child a comfortable or cross baby? 
Did it have much disturbance of /the bowels, or 

eruptions-on the skin? 
Did it grow steadily and well, or slowly and irregu* 

larly? 
Is it alive now? If dead, of what did it die, and at 

what age? 



FEEDING. 225 

Good cow's milk is a better food for an infant than 
inferior or doubtful human milk. 

The infant should be dieted so as to avoid sickness. 
Only a proper use of the elements in milk will secure 
this. 



Is mother taking care of the baby herself? 

Does she get her regular sleep? 

Is she tired out? 

Is her appetite good? 

Is she suffering from any disease? 

Is she worried and anxious about the child, or about 

other matters? 
Is she a hearty eater? 

Is she constipated? Is she taking medicine? 
Does she eat meat, one, two, or three times daily? 
Does she walk one' or two miles daily in the open 

air? 
Regarding the baby: 
How old is the baby? 
Does it nurse its mother? 
How long did it nurse its mother? 
What was its weight when born? 
Is it nursing or hand fed now? 
What was its weight when it was weaned? 
What is the present weight? 

Has the baby lost weight at any time ? If so, when ? 
Describe the stools: Color, number daily, consist 

ence (formed or watery), odor (foul or natural). 
How long have the stools been of this character ? 
Does the infant pass curds in the stools ? If so, how 

long and often have these curds been present? 
Is the infant scalded and sore about the bowel or 

genitals, or both ? 

15 



226 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A knowledge of past errors in feeding the infant is 
essential to correct dieting" as it grows older. 



Is there slime in the stools? If so, how often? 

Is the slime mixed with green or yellow? Is there 

much slime? 
Does the infant vomit? 
How often does it vomit? 
How soon after feeding does it vomit? 
How often does it feed at night? 
Does the infant have much gas or wind in the stom- 
ach ? Is it more than natural ? 
Does it pass much gas from the bowel ? 
Is this gas natural or foul in odor ? 
If hand fed, give the daily number of feedings, 
amounts, and kind of food given daily during: 

First month. Seventh month. 

Second month. Eighth month. 

Third month. Ninth month. 

Fourth month. Tenth month. 

Fifth month. Eleventh month. 

Sixth month. Twelfth month. 

Give the character — color, odor, consistence (soft or 
watery) — and number of stools daily during: 

First month. Seventh month. 

Second month. Eighth month. 

Third month. Ninth month. 

Fourth month. Tenth month. 

Fifth month. Eleventh month. 

Sixth month. Twelfth month. 

Are there any eruptions or sores on the skin? 
Is the child paler than healthy children? 
Does it show any bloom or color in the cheeks? 
Is the skin wrinkled and loose? 



FEEDING. 227 

A clear knowledge of the present condition and food of 
the infant will indicate its future progress. Unhealthy 
stools will upset the best calculations for futurity. 



Is the skin mottled and elastic? 

Is the flesh hard or soft? 

Does the child sleep well? If so, when? 

When does it sleep most? 

How many hours does it sleep in each twenty-four? 

Does the child cry much ? 

Has it had sore mouth ? If so, how often ? 

How much do you now feed at each time ? Ounces ? 

What food is the infant now receiving? State this 
clearly; 

How often do you feed in each twenty-four hours? 

How often in daytime? 

How often between 10:00 P. M. and 6:00 A. M.? 

Does the food show in the stools ? 

How long has food passed in the stools? 

When food passes in the stool, are the stools slimy 
and green also? 

Is the infant's milk boiled or raw? 

Do you prepare all the food yourself ? 

Do you prepare more than one feeding at each time ? 

If so, do you keep the prepared food in a refrig- 
erator ? 

How long is the child taking each feeding? 

Do you throw out the food left after feeding? 

Has the infant had any medical treatment? If so, 
for what disease or trouble ? 

What medicines have you given it? 

Have you given anything to make the infant rest or 

sleep better? 
What have you given for this purpose? 



228 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Developmental marks on the infant tell its past history 
and show how to avoid them in the future. 

Every unusual feature in the infant's appearance or 
conduct is important in reading- its present condition and 
future health. 



Has the infant any teeth? How many? 

Does it sit up alone? 

Does it walk? Or creep? 

Is it backward in its growth ? 

In what way does it show being backward ? 

State at what age it first sat up, crept, walked. 

Has the child a large head? 

Do the blue veins show large on the temples, so they 

can easily be seen a few feet away? 
Is the tongue redder than other tongues? 
Is it coated white ? If so, state the part coated 

white. 
Is this coating thin or thick, or only dotted over 

with white? 
How long is it coated this way? 
Is the mouth red and angry looking? 
Is the infant's breath foul smelling? If so, how long 

has it been so? 
How often has it smelled this way? 
Does this foul breath show only in the morning, or 

continue all day? 
Are the child's limbs sore or tender? 
Are the joints swollen? 
Which joints are swollen or large? 
How long have they been swollen and sore? 
How often has the child been sick? 
What sicknesses has it had? 
Has the child got the snuffles? 



FEEDING. 229 

Only by knowing- the result produced on the stools 
by each element in the food can the mother feed intel- 
ligently, have a healthy baby, and avoid the expenses 
of sickness. 



How long lias it shown the snuffles ? 

Describe all sores and eruptions which have 

appeared. 
Give the location of all sores. (Be particular.) 
State how long they remained before healing. 
Do they leave any scars? 
State the exact color and shade of these scars. 

Doctor's Bills. 

The great obstacles to proper feeding of the infant 
are: 

Fiest: The lack of knowledge in the parents. 

Second: The meddlesome advice of friends, gener- 
ally less capable than the mother herself to prescribe a 
correct diet. 

Third: The inattention or lack of interest in this 
subject, by the family physician. 

Fourth: The expense involved in employing the phy- 
sician to correct and guide the infant's dietary. 

We will speak only of the latter. To the wealthy this 
does not apply. They are only too glad to refer this im- 
portant subject to their physician and follow his guidance, 
when once they realize that he can improve on their 
methods, and can intelligently point them the way to 
follow in future, so they can be their own guides, and 
thus raise vigorous, strong, symmetrical children. 
. But to those with less money, the expense is often the 
chief obstacle to employing the physician. This should 
not continue to be so, as the attendance required of the 
physician is very little, indeed. The changes in the 



230 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A mother should always have a clear knowledge of 
the requisites in feeding-, so as to avoid damaging- the 
infant's digestive organs. 



infant's condition are so few and so slow that he does not 
require to see the infant frequently. After one inter- 
view or a detailed report of the case, all the physician 
requires is to know the weekly progress in weight, and 
the number and character of the stools daily. The for- 
mer tells the infant's progress, forward or backward, and 
the latter shows where the errors, if any, lie each day. 
With these two, an experienced physician can direct the 
dietary in his office or one hundred miles away, as well 
as at the infant's bedside. Nor does he require these 
points often, unless there is a decided change. With an 
intelligent mother, who will at once learn from him the 
causes for changes in the stools and how to correct them 
dietetically, there is always abundance of time to make 
needed changes and correct errors. The doctor's bills 
can thus be reduced to a minimum, particularly if parents 
will not first allow the infant to be damaged or to lose 
much weight on an unsuitable dietary. To reduce this 
expense to a fraction of the cost of sickness, parents 
should at first obtain the physician's directions for the 
diet, and a clear idea of the correct stools and the way to 
produce them, and thus avoid the necessity for correcting 
subsequent errors and their consequent cost. 

When it is remembered that three-fourths of all the 
infant's sickness during the first two years are due 
to errors in feeding, the economy of a correct dietary 
and how to secure a perfect development will be at once 
apparent. In this way summer sickness is always avoided 
during teething, and the infant grows all the year 
round. 



FEEDING. 



231 



By knowing clearly how to read the stools each day, 
a mother can detect and correct errors as soon as they 
appear. 



By a carefully adjusted diet, the mother can protect her 
infant from all the following diseases: 



Sore mouth. 

Teething fevers. 

Slow teething. 

Indigestion. 

Colic. 

Constipation. 

Diarrhea. 



Dysentery . 

Rickets'. 

Bone deformities. 

Vomiting. 

Disturbed sleep. 

Irritated kidneys. 

Cholera infantum. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 



Infantile Immaturity. 

A sensible mother adjusts herself to the infant, not the 
infant to the mother. 



This is a complex subject. It requires careful study 
in each case. There is no absolute law applicable to all. 
Why is this the case? Because infants are not all 
mature when born. In the parts visible we see this con- 
tinually; of the parts invisible, we see proofs of the same 
immaturity. The great trouble is to know how near 
maturity each infant is when born; and, knowing this, 
then to adjust our skill to its digestive ability. 

We know the newly-born infant cannot crack biscuits. 
Why ? Because it has not any teeth with which to do it. 
But we cannot say how soon any child will be able to do 
so, because we do not know how soon it will have the 
requisite teeth. So we accept of this immature condition, 
as an uncertainty, varying with different children. 

We know that one infant commences drooling at two 
months, and another at four or five months. We also 
know that this drooling is the secretion from the salivary 
glands allowed to run out of the mouth, as the child is 
not mature enough to swallow it. This difference in 
time of appearance represents the difference in maturity. 

232 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY 233 

No two infants develop alike at all points. Nature is 
rich in varieties always. 



We see one infant learn to use a chair at stool when a 
few months old, while the same mother cannot teach her 
next infant to do this till it is twice that age. The same 
result is common with the urinary secretion. Will we 
say this is mental perversity, or will we sensibly admit 
that it is infantile immaturity? Failure, by whipping 
and other punishments, to obtain better results, •finally 
compel unbelieving mothers to admit, ' ; The child will 
grow out of it/"' Let us sensibly accept the fact that we 
must learn each infant's condition, and then adjust our 
care and feeding to that condition. 

If we see this immaturity in development of visible 
organs and acts, we should accept the same possibility in 
the invisible, or internal, organs. All experienced 
parents do this, and the sensible inexperienced soon real- 
ize these facts, when properly presented to them. So we 
must read immaturity in the digestive power of the stom- 
ach and bowels when we find the child continually cross, 
restless, and colicky, and the stools all colors but yellow, 
when, apparently to the parents, a suitable food is given. 
Also, when we find a child failing to grow and increase in 
weight on the food proper to other infants, we should read 
immaturity of some one of the internal parts as the cause, 
and change the food accordingly. 

When we remember that the invisible digestive organs 
are long enough, when stretched out, to reach across an 
ordinary parlor, and, when opened out, are as wide in 
many parts as a sash ribbon, or wider; when we also 
" remember that the whole inside surface of this broad tract 
is lined with glands, folds, and elevations, thousands of 
which are only perceptible with a microscope, being too 



234 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Infantile immaturity is the rule at some point in all 
infants. 

"We beat the Mongolians in destroying our infants, 
but we do it in a more refined way. 



minute to be observable with the naked eye, we can read- 
ily see that, in the gradual process of formation and 
growth, from fetal commencement to first dental comple- 
tion, there must be, and are, great variations in speed of 
development of each individual part. 

If there be still doubters and unbelievers on this vital 
point, let them witness the futile attempts made to make 
a number of infants hear, see, or walk. Having so done, 
they must realize that Nature delights in irregularities, 
which our intelligence must read and adjust, accordingly, 
our actions to, and care of, the infant. 

After carefully considering these facts, who will not 
admit that attention to, and study of the infant's every 
move and act is a necessity, in order to secure the one 
great object of parentage — successful development? 

Having this latter in view, can we accept as a necessity 
three months' colic, lost sleep, green, slimy, foul stools, 
fevers, peevishness, pale face, soft flesh, weak bones, 
large heads, big blue veins, general backwardness, undue 
nervousness, and convulsions with the thousand and one 
other things proving at some point the immature or 
abused infant, as well as the inexperienced and unedu- 
cated parentage"? 

We read with horror of the practice followed by some 
Mongolians and Eastern tribes in casting their undesira- 
ble and unwelcome infants into the rivers, to be devoured 
by the occupants thereof. What are our boasted mem- 
bers of Western civilization doing with patent and other 
foods, but casting their infants into the rivers of mdiges- 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 23o 

Digestive derangements kill more infants yearly than 
do diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid fever, and 
pneumonia combined. 



tion, diarrhea, colic, fever, imperfect development, mal- 
formation, etc, which are as destructive as the Eastern 
rivers, but not quite so rapid. Unfortunately, our way 
leaves more evidence of barbarism and cruelty, because 
slower in action; and we have become so accustomed to the 
sight that we daily pass it by. none noticing these cruel 
errors save those interested in this work of preventing 
and saving the infants, and securing a better and stronger 
development of our humanity. 

So great is our familiarity with these errors that we 
look upon them as a necessity, and thus each summer 
complacently witness increased infantile mortality from 
digestive derangements without even thinking it to be 
wrong. 

How quickly do we scan the deaths from diphtheria, 
scarlet fever, and all contagious diseases, and hold our 
health officers responsible for any failure in stamping 
them out. Yet we never cast a thought on this greater 
mortality yearly from unsuitable feeding, and never think 
of health officers educating the public against this danger 
also, as they do against contagious ones. 

Elements of Nutrition. 

Nature has established a table of elements from which 
a reliable food can be composed. Of these elements she 
herself makes different combinations, but varies very 
little in those combinations for any one species. Those 
differences are illustrated by the varying qualities in the 
milk of different women who raise healthy children, and 
also by the varying qualities of the same woman's milk at 



236 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Only five elements, but all of these five are needed to 
grow a healthy infant. 



different times. But Nature never fails to put all the 
elements in every sample of milk. She may and does 
lessen or increase the amount of one or more elements, 
but she never omits one. This rule she applies to all 
mammalia with unswerving certainty, only making such 
modifications in the amounts of the elements as each class 
demands. 

These primary elements in Nature's workshop are only 
five in number: 
Fat. 
Sugar. 
Peoteids. 
Mineral Salts. 
Water. 
With these five elements in varying proportions, Na- 
ture starts successfully all mammalia in the race for 
growth and perfect development; and just as she is gen- 
erous in freely supplying these elements in proper pro- 
portion for a long time, so is the growth and develop- 
ment of the young one successful. 

We have said these elements are used by Nature in 
varying proportions. Let us look at them and their 
uses as Nature designed them, and as she uses them. 
She employs: 

Fat (cream), for heat and the growth of bone and 

nerve. 
Sugar, for heat and fat. 

Proteids, for making muscles, ligaments, nerves, 
blood-vessels, hair, skin, nails and all tissues re- 
quiring motion and strength. 
Salts, for stiffening the bones and keeping the blood 
healthy and liquid. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 237 

Cream, for bloom and roundness. 
Sugar, for heat and plumpness. 
Proteid, for strength and fleetness. 

Nature is not an inebriate; she dilutes her drinks. 



Water, for dilution and solution of food, and elimina- 
tion of waste from the body. 
Why does Nature vary the proportions of these ele- 
ments for different members of the mammalia family? 
Simply to meet their necessities for existence. 

Look at the elements and their uses; then think of the 
young one to be fed. The quiet infant who moves little 
for months after birth, develops little heat by exercise, 
so it requires plenty of fat and sugar to keep it warm. 
Nature is generous, then, by putting plenty of these two 
elements in its food. 

In proportion as the infant is quiet and makes little 
effort for existence for months after birth, so does it 
require little proteid and salts in its food to grow the 
muscle, nerve, and bone to give it the strength for this toil. 
Nature, consequently, adjusts the amount of these ele- 
ments only to its necessities, not any more; for this 
reason she puts very little proteid and salts in human milk. 
To make sure of her work, she adjusts the digestive or- 
gans of each mammal to the proper digestion of only that 
proportion of these elements needed for its success- 
ful existence, and not for any more. The force of this 
provision is seen in the difficulty and disturbance caused 
in the young infant when it is fed on pure cow's milk. 
The young of the cow, for its preservation and feeding, 
requires that it should be able to walk or run from birth. 
This demands plenty of proteid, that strength-giving ele- 
ment, in its food, that it may grow abundant muscle, 
nerve, and bone to move or run about, and thus take care 



238 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Th3 infant requires more sugar than of any other 
element during- the first six months of its life. Human 
milk supplies this. 



of itself. So Nature provides digestive organs in the calf 
as well as in all the lower animals capable of digesting 
this strong running element, proteid, in large proportion ; 
but for the infant, she says there is no necessity for so 
much of this proteid, and its digestive organs are made 
accordingly, to use only a small amount. 

From this it is apparent that proteid in cow's milk 
must be reduced for successful infant feeding, and sugar 
increased on account of the greater heat needed in its 
naturally quiet life. 

Where the mother's milk fails to be digested correctly, 
and the infant's comfort and growth are disturbed thereby, 
the error will nearly always be found in the improper 
proportion of these elements in the mother's milk. This 
must be corrected before the infant can thrive. 

Normal Development. 

The nervous system of the young infant is more active 
and excitable than that of the adult. The brain is fifteen 
times larger, in proportion, than that of the adult, and 
increases in size most rapidly up to seven years of age. 

The molecular changes in the infant are much more rapid 
on account of its great growth and change of life. The 
greater exposure of head surface in proportion to size 
renders the infant much more susceptible to cooling than 
the adult. * In this way it loses heat much more rapidly, 
and is more subject to disturbances of its equilibrium. 
This renders it more subject to disease, with less resist- 
ance. For this reason, the younger the child the greater 
is the mortality. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 239 

More proteid, or cheesy constituent, is needed in the 
food when the infant moves about. 

There are three times as many deaths in the first half 
of the first year as in the last half. There are more 
deaths in the first month than in any succeeding one; and 
there are more deaths in the first week than in any other 
like time. Many of these are from weakness due to the 
changed life and insufficient food supplied at this time; 
and to immaturity. 

Pulse. — The pulse decreases in frequency as the child 
grows older. At birth, the normal rate is 130 to 135 = 
During the first year it falls to 110, and during second 
year to 100; at five to eight years, to 90, and at puberty 
reaches the normal adult rate. 

The pulse rate is increased by all emotions, such as 
crying or laughing, and by all forms of exercise, no 
matter how slight. It increases in frequency with weak- 
ness; and also in most diseased conditions. 

Respirations. — The respirations are frequent in the 
infant, being about forty-five at birth. They are more 
while awake than while sleeping, and are very much 
increased during fever from any cause. They usually 
fall to twenty-five at three years old, but these figures 
may be greater or less, and the child remain perfectly 
healthy. 

Height. — The average height of the male infant at 
birth is 19£ inches. Insufficient nourishment and rachitis 
retard growth, but fevers favor it, while the infant mav 
even lose weight. 

Infants grow most rapidly during the first three 
months of life, and double their height by the sixth year. 
Growth seems to be most active in the springtime. 

Liver — The liver is very large at birth, being out of 



240 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The younger the infants, the greater is the proportion 
of deaths. 



proportion to the other organs, and projects below the 
ribs on the right side. 

Spleen. — This is relatively small at birth, and seldom 
shows any disturbance during infancy. 

Pancreas. — This organ is very similar in construction 
and function to the salivary glands. It lies behind the 
stomach. Its function is to assist in digesting the starch 
and fatty foods. 

Kidneys. — There is nothing particularly noticeable 
about these organs in infancy. They are imperfectly 
formed, but placed similarly to those in the adult. 

Bladder. — This is small at birth, but soon becomes 
greatly distended. It occupies the lower part of the 
abdomen, and occasionally fills it up. 

Stomach. — This organ is very small at birth, not able 
to hold two tablespoonfuls of fluid. Soon it become's 
very much distended in some infants, particularly those 
hand fed, and in some assumes peculiar shapes. It grows 
very rapidly during the first three months, slowly in the 
fourth, and very little during the fifth and sixth. 

The size of the stomach in nursed infants is ascertained 
by actual measurements to be: 

At birth, § to 1 ounce, or 6 to 8 teaspoonfuls. 

At four weeks, 2^ ounces, or 5 tablespoonfuls. 

At eight weeks, 3 1-6 ounces, or 6 1-12 tablespoonfuls. 

At twelve weeks, 3^ ounces, or 6 1-6 tablespoonfuls. 

At sixteen weeks, 3| ounces, or 7 tablespoonfuls. 

At twenty weeks, 3 3-5 ounces, or 7 1-10 tablespoonfuls. 

It will be noticed that the stomach does not increase 
much in size from the eighth to the twentieth week. 

The stomachs of hand-fed children are usually much 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 241 

Adjust the diet to all the digestive glands. Milk is 
the only food with which this can be done. 



larger than these sizes, on account of the greater amounts 
of food received, and also the greater speed with which 
food is swallowed. If mothers would select suitable 
food for the infant, and confine the amount of each feed- 
ing to the healthy size of the stomach, there would be 
greater success in hand feeding, and a very much re- 
duced mortality among these little ones. 

Actual records from feeding infants on prepared 
milk show the following average amounts given at each 
meal: 

At birth, 1 ounce. 

Five weeks, 2^ ounces. 

Eight weeks, 3^ ounces. 

Twelve weeks, 4 ounces. 

Sixteen weeks, 4^ ounces. 

Twenty weeks, 5 J ounces. 

Six months, 5f ounces. 

Seven months, 6 1-5 ounces. 

Eight months, 7 ounces. 

Nine months, 7-| ounces, 

Ten months, 7-J ounces. 

Eleven months, 8 ounces. 

Intestine. — This varies greatly in length in different 
children. The variation is mostly due to the different 
diet; but is partly due to the natural proportions of the 
infants. The small intestine grows rapidly after birth, 
about two feet in the first month. It varies in length 
greatly, being from eight to fifteen feet long at 
birth. At one year old the large intestine measures 
from two to three feet in length, and varies very greatly in 
its position in the abdomen. It is frequently placed low 



242 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Yellow, inodorous, mustard paste stools are the only- 
proof that all digestive organs are correctly used. 



down in the abdomen, and packed closely, causing con- 
stipation. It gradually rises in the abdomen as the 
infant grows older. 

Duties of Different Digestive Organs. 

Nature has planned the digestive tract of man so that 
different kinds of food are digested in different parts of 
it. Just as the mother assigns her household work to 
each member capable of performing that special duty, so 
should she be able to regulate the dietary of her children 
according to the different organs used in digestion, 
and the particular food digested by each one of these 
organs. Unsuitable dietary puts all the labor on one or- 
gan and leaves the others idle, or at least uses them 
unequally; and the result cannot be a success. As well 
might she expect her housekeeping to be a success by 
cooking alone without any washing and cleaning, or by 
washing or cleaning without any cooking. Such, in fact, 
is the principle followed most commonly by many when 
they select a food that works one organ and neglects the 
others; that overbuilds one tissue in the body and starves 
the remaining ones, thus making the infant one sided. 
It always results in all fat with imperfect muscles and 
bones to carry it, all brain and no body to support it, all 
bones "and no flesh to cover them, or all stomach and no 
legs to carry it. Such are a few of the monstrous ine- 
qualities resulting from ignorance of Nature's plan, 
and then blindly diving into the grab-bag of proprie- 
tary foods for something to feed the baby. Such, in 
fact, is what is being done daily by those who feed 
their children by directions from the advertising col- 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 243 

Every tissue and part of the body requires nutriment 
suitable for its own building-, not that of another tissue. 



limns of their morning or evening paper, or somebody's 
say so. 

To obtain perfect results and well developed children, 
we must use all the digestive organs according to their 
development, and it is necessary not to forget that there 
is great variance with increasing age, and the same 
variety in digestive results among infants that we have 
among adults. What we need to always obtain for suc- 
cess are yellow stools of a mustard consistence and free 
from all bad odors. These are the true key to futurity, 
and can only be obtained by the proper food, proper 
amount, and healthy digestive organs in all their parts. 

What are the digestive organs ? 

1. A mouth with or without teeth and with or with- 
out salivary secretions. 

2. A stomach with glands and follicles lining it. 

3. Small bowels with thousands of different follicles 
and glands lining and emptying into them. 

4:. Large bowels lined with innumerable glands and 
follicles. 

The mouth receives the food, with teeth grinds it, and 
with saliva mixes it. As we have no teeth till six or 
seven months old, so does Nature design that we should 
have no grinding or food used that requires grinding. 

Saliva is not secreted at birth, nor usually till three 
to four months after this; consequently, starchy food re- 
quiring mixing with saliva should not be used during 
first months of life. As saliva makes the first change in 
digesting starchy or flour foods, these should be excluded 
till after the saliva is secreted, and then only used very 
moderately, as stools show their proper digestion. The 



244 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Each organ, like each man, does its own share in the 
digestive work. Only the perfect work of all combined 
gives the good result. 



secretion of saliva is small at first and increases with 
age. 

The stomach receives the food after grinding, and also 
digests the nitrogenous or animal parts, except the fats. 
It does not digest flour or starchy foods, but conveys 
them, after churning and softening them, into the small 
bowel along with the fats and digested nitrogenous foods. 

The small bowel with its own secretions and those from 
the liver, pancreas, Brunner's and Lieberkuhn's glands 
emptying into it, continues this work by digesting the 
fats, sugars and starches, thus making of all the foods a 
soft, thin digested emulsion as it passes along the ten or 
fifteen feet of its length till it reaches a valve which con- 
trols its passage into the large bowel. While in this 
lower part of the small bowel, this emulsion, called chyme, 
is rapidly absorbed by the blood-vessels, cells, and lacteals 
lining it, and conveyed to the blood current for dis- 
tribution to the different parts of the body requiring 
nutrition. 

As bone cannot be made out of nerve food, as skin can- 
not be made out of bone food, as muscle cannot be made 
out of fat food, in fact, as each tissue in the body is made 
and repaired only out of the particular element in this 
food emulsion suited to its structure and duty, it becomes 
at once apparent why a child's food must be carefully 
adjusted to the child's tissue necessities to make a per- 
fect being. 

As well might a mother resolve to make her bonnet, 
feathers, fur coat, silk dress, underwear, hosiery, and 
shoes out of any one piece of cloth, as try to make the 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 245 

Children cut teeth in proportion as they receive the 
proper elements of nutrition. 

perfect child out of one style of food. There must 
be variety, equal and suitable to the necessities and age. 
Only one food, pure milk, is capable of supplying all tis- 
sues, and that only for a limited time in the first year. 

The large bowel receives the residue of the food passed 
from the small bowel. Here the processes of digestion 
and absorption are completed, and the waste or surplus 
dried for expulsion. Herein is the habit of looseness or 
constipation established, and that mostly by the charac- 
ter of this residue or waste. In this part do we find 
those foul gases evolved through decomposition of un- 
suitable and discarded food, and waste from worn tissues. 
Here, also, do we find the drying process excessively 
conducted from the refuse of unsuitable dietary, till the 
residue is too hard and dry for the tender bowel to expel 
it. Hence we have constipation. 

Such constipation is mostly due to the undue presence 
of starchy (flour) food, or cheesy (cow's milk) food, in 
excess. By lessening the proportion of these, thus in- 
creasing their digestion, and increasing the fatty food 
and waste from the body, we usually relieve this consti- 
pation in the healthy child. This change lessens and 
eases the expulsive labor in the lower bowel, and thus 
regulates the stools. 

Order of Teething. 

From the moment the infant is born, the mother looks 
forward, with more or less anxiety, to the teething period 
of the little one. According to her inherited or imbibed 
ideas is the importance of this natural physiological act. 
Some mothers think of it with dread; others give it little 



246 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



thought. The writer thinks that the mode of feeding 
governs the health during this period, and thus leaves 
impressions of greater or less dan- 
ger during the first dentition. 
Certainly, in properly fed infants we 
see little disturbance of the bowels 
at any time, from teething. 

Experience shows that children 
are more sensitive and have less re- 
sistance to disease generally, from 




Figure 



the time they commence teething. 
Fevers, nervous disorders, sleepless- 
ness, and bowel disturbances are the 
more common ailments of this per- 
iod. 

A healthy infant generally com- 
mences teething at seven months, 





Figure 



Figure 37. 

and finishes the process when twenty - 



four to thirty -two months old. When 
completed, the infant has twenty 
teeth. These last till the child is 
six years old, when the permanent 
teeth commence to replace these 
first ones. The first teeth generally 

appear in the following order and 

time, in a healthy infant (Figures 

36 to 40): 

At six to eight months, the lower 

central incisors. 

At eight to ten months, four 

upper incisors. 

At twelve to fourteen months, two lower lateral incisors 

and four first molars. 




Figure 




DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 247 

Teething causes little disturbance in a properly fed 
infant. Certainly it alone seldom loosens the bowels. 

At eighteen to twenty months, four canines. 

At twenty-four to thirty-two 
months, four second molars. 

Rickety children and many who 
have been often sick will be slower 
than this table. Many rickety chil- 
dren, those poorly nourished, may 
not have any teeth when a year or 
fourteen months old, and may be 
three to four years old before first teething is com- 
pleted. 

The Permanent Teeth. 

These are thirty-two in number; but as the four wis- 
dom teeth are often very late in appearing, and at times 
some of them never appear, some people may have less 
than thirty-two. 

The permanent teeth are placed in the jaw below the 
first or milk teeth, and gradually grow larger, absorbing 
the roots of the milk teeth till they become loose and fall 
out. At times, in narrow jaws, the permanent teeth will 
not press directly against the first teeth, but will appear 
through the gums outside or inside the first teeth. 
This makes a very ugly, unsightly appearance, and the 
mother should consult a dentist about this deformity as 
soon as she sees it. Drawing the old tooth will gener- 
ally allow the new one, if there is room, to assume the 
correct position. The permanent teeth usually appear 
in the following order and time: 
First molars, ------ 6 years. 

Incisors, - - - - - 7 to 8 years. 

Bicuspids, - - - - - 9 to 11 years. 



248 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Wean always when the stools show a persistent 
unsuitability in the mother's milk. Foul odors, green 
colors, curds, and slime give this evidence. 



Canines, - - - • - 11 to 14 years. 

Second molars, - - - - 12 to 15 years. 

Third molars (wisdom teeth), - - 18 to 25 years. 

The first four molar teeth appear at six years, but 
come behind the last molars of the first set, and the 
bicuspids appear in the places of the milk molars. As the 
child grows older, the jaw lengthens and leaves space for 
the second and third molars, which appear, as soon as 
there is room for them, behind the first molars. 

The Nursing Baby. 

In the great majority of children feeding during the 
first year, is easily accomplished. The healthy child, 
with a liberal supply of healthy mother's milk, as 
a general rule, gives little trouble in feeding till weaning 
time; that is, when this milk continues in full quantity 
and of the healthy quality. 

Not every mother has sufficient healthy milk for the 
first year, or till the usual weaning time — ten or twelve 
months. In fact, very few can fully supply the baby up 
to that time. Usually there is a falling off in the amount 
at seven or eight months, and many show a marked 
decrease much earlier — at two to four months. In many 
mothers there is a decided change in the quality at any 
age, due to the health of the mother, her natural nursing 
power, or her mental condition. 

Some mothers are very imperfect nurses, and their 
children never thrive after this unhealthy change in milk 
secretion is established; neither do the children of good 
nurses thrive after an unfavorable change in the milk 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 249 

Less than four to six ounces weekly gain means mal- 
nutrition and bad development of the baby. 



production at any age. It is common to see a babe thrive 
and grow well till a few months old, then become cross, 
pale, and restless, with disturbed stomach and changed 
stools, These latter changes are always ascribed to ap- 
proaching teeth by some mothers and most of her lady 
friends. This is a sad mistake, and yearly costs the lives 
of thousands of babies, and causes the poor health and 
faulty development of thousands more. 

A mother's first duty is to learn the proper care of her 
infant. This implies proper internal, as well as external, 
attention to all things necessary to secure a strong, 
healthy, well developed child. Every baby should add 
weekly from a quarter to a half a pound to its weight. 
The child who does not add at least a quarter of a pound 
weekly is commencing a dangerous condition, which, 
if continued, will end in death or bad developmental 
results. So we say, as a foundation for a true knowledge 
of her child's condition, every mother should use the 
scales regularly every week, and know, not think, that her 
baby is progressing satisfactorily. When there is a fail- 
ure of full weekly increase, the true reason must be ascer- 
tained at once, and the error corrected. The error, in nine 
out of every ten cases, lies in the milk supply — qual- 
ity or quantiy. 

The cause of the error in the milk supply lies either in 
the mental or physical condition of the mother. The 
mental disturbance may be any condition, from worry over 
a servant or new clothes to the loss of parent or friend. 

The physical disturbance changing the quality or 
quantity of the milk may vary from a dish of salad to a 
day of hard labor or a night at a ball. 



250 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A mentally disturbed, or anxious mother, makes a poor 
or colicky milk. 



While these causes act in some mothers, there are 
many where it seems almost impossible to disturb this 
secretion. The very thought that the secretion may go 
wrong is enough to make it do so in many mothers ; the 
anxiety lest it come wrong is sure to often secure this 
result in nervous, over-anxious mothers. A very careful 
study of each case is necessary to find the disturbing 
agent. 

Teething: Its Constitutional Effects. 

One of our inheritances is to ascribe all disturbances 
of the digestive organs to the teething process, from the 
time the child is four months old till it is over two years. 
Would that we could gather before our mothers the num- 
ber of deaths and magnitude of sicknesses that are yearly 
piled on this sacrificial altar. With what horror would 
we behold it. At least, it would have one beneficial result. 
It would make humanity pause, and ask the questions, 
Can this be possible? Has Nature so designed her 
handiwork that one natural process in the develop- 
ment of our race should be a veritable Juggernaut? 
Is she so devoid in skill as not to be able to make 
this natural growth of teeth a less dangerous process? 
Or, for what reason, if so, has she willed that this immense 
slaughter of these innocents should occur at this tender 
age? Why at this age rather than any other? 

These are difficult and unanswerable questions to the 
believer in this teething slaughter. Perhaps, if we pause 
again in our reasoning, we might possibly ask the ques- 
tion, Does this teething process cause so much damage 
as it is given credit for? Ask the young mother whose 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 251 

Out of twenty sicknesses ascribed to teething, prob- 
ably not three of them are correct. Properly fed infants 
do not suffer much from the teething- process. 

An infant is more sensitive to disease and digestive 
disturbances during teething. 



child has always yellow stools, and she says promptly, 
"I did not know baby was cutting teeth till I felt them." 
Ask the mother of a dozen children, all nursed, and she 
says, "My children cut their teeth easily." On the other 
hand, ask the mother who feeds every time the child 
cries, and. she will say, "Oh, my child had an awful hard 
time cutting teeth;" and ask the mother who believes in 
feeding the babies from her own table all they will take 
of anything and everything, and she will say, "I lost my 
children during teething." 

True it is, that the child's nervous system is more 
sensitive on account of the friction and division of nerves 
and gum tissues during the months of teething, but 
experience shows that carefully fed children evince very 
little, if any more, uneasiness or disturbance during this 
period than they- do prior to or after it is over. 

Unfortunate it is for our humanity that this false idea 
prevails, for to the idea itself, not the teething, immense 
numbers of children are yearly sacrificed. Young 
mothers, and many older ones also, think the children 
must continue suffering fever, diarrhea and vomiting till 
the teeth are cut, as they express it, thinking that this is 
natural and consequently must be. How many times is 
the physician called to witness the dire results of this 
barbaric idea, and frequently even too late to save the 
child from the grave, when the most careful examination 
of the mouth reveals no teeth in the process of eruption. 
This is, alas! another relic of our dark days 



252 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Attributing sickness to teething" too often means the 
death of the child. The physician is not called early 
enough. 

Avoid so-called teething troubles by fixing the summer 
diet in May. The infant with healthy yellow stools does 
not suffer while cutting teeth. 



The properly fed child neither suffers nor dies from 
teething, and with its careful diet passes through the 
hottest weather as comfortably during the teething process 
as it could through the winter season. There is no fear 
of teething in the approaching hot weather for the sen- 
sible, experienced mother. The great necessity is to 
establish in May, the diet that gives the yellow, inodorous, 
pasty stools, and allow no change in its quality till the 
following September or October. The only change allow- 
able is an increase in the amount of that food needed 
for increasing age. Children treated this way do not 
suffer any bowel disturbance from teething or any other 
cause. 

Duties of the Kidneys. 

We see that stomach, bowels, liver, pancreas, with all 
their smaller glands and follicles, have been busily en- 
gaged in preparing, sorting, emulsifying, and absorbing 
food to fill up the blood circulation and nourish all the 
different tissues of the body. Let us now look at the 
other side for a moment. 

It is evident that this filling up process cannot go on 
indefinitely without a corresponding waste or overflow. 
While this is partly accomplished by the skin and the 
lungs, the great burden of this sewerage is performed 
by the kidneys. If the amount taken in daily is five 
times greater than normal, the amount cast out must also 
increase in like proportion. As all this necessarily passes 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 253 

The kidneys eliminate most of the waste from the 
blood current. 

Overfeeding* the infant damages its kidneys. Foods 
making rank, foul stools always strain and damage the 
kidneys. 



through the kidneys, as well as all waste from the 
tissues, it can at once be realized what an immense strain 
is put upon those delicate organs, and what damage may 
result therefrom. 

As the inebriate of adult life establishes Bright ; s or 
other kidney disease by the immense quantities of beer and 
other stimulants which he forces through his kidneys, so 
does the parent likewise in overloading the infant stom- 
ach correspondingly overload the kidneys and establish 
disease. Can this be possible, the parent asks, that this 
overloading of the kidneys in the first year or two will 
culminate in fatal disease twenty or thirty years after? 
This is not only possible, but probably the foundation of 
many, if not most, of the kidney affections showing in 
temperate people in youth and early life, as all the 
poisonous drink or unsuitable material entering the blood 
must always pass out through the kidneys. Stay their 
action for two to three days, any time in life, and we have 
a fatal result from accumulation of poisons in the blood. 
Not so with the bowels, as they may run even for a week 
or more without emptying, and not necessarily endanger 
life. Parents should always remember this, and also 
remember that a damaged kidney always remains damaged 
in that portion injured, the healthy part being compelled 
to do all the work. Were it not that the kidneys are 
larger than required in health and ordinary duties, these 
children would at once succumb to this dietetic abuse, 
through affections of these organs. 



254 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Overfeeding and unsuitable foods make dark strong 
smelling urine. This shows kidney strain. 

The stools may stop for three or four days without 
derangement. The urine cannot do this. 



Urine. 

The importance of giving proper attention to this secre- 
tion cannot be overestimated. While a patient can go for 
days in succession without a stool, and enjoy good health, 
such cannot be said of the urine. Here continuous toil 
from birth to death is demanded for a proper elimina- 
tion of the poisonous constituents taken in with the food, 
made by imperfect digestion, or resulting from the con- 
tinuous waste accompanying life in us all. 

While it is possible and common to have a small secre- 
tion of urine, during inactivity or the absence of fluid 
from the nutriment taken, yet this can only continue for 
a few hours before symptoms of disturbance and great 
thirst demand more drink. With this the kidneys find 
sufficient liquid to enable them to continue their work of 
extracting and eliminating from the blood those poisons 
which will in two to three days, if not removed, accumu- 
late sufficiently to destroy life. This work is then so 
vital and important that it demands continual attention. 

Even while the amount is sufficient, careful watching 
is needed to detect any difficulty in passing it, or any ab- 
normality in the character of it. Ordinary healthy urine 
varies greatly in color, from that of ordinary water to an 
amber color, and in quantity, with the amount of liquid 
taken to a few ounces, according to the activity of the 
skin and bowels. A careful attention will commonly de- 
tect any unusual divergence from the natural color, odor, 
and amount. In children, a bright bloody tinge is some- 
times noticed on the napkins from the uric acid in the 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABY. 255 

The urine must flow unceasingly to purify the blood 
every day, and thus avoid poisoning- the infant. 



urine. This is unusual and requires attention; also the 
dark yellow amber color, almost approaching black- 
ness, which is seen in the jaundiced patient, and also in 
some types of fever. The bright color commonly indi- 
cates kidney irritation, and the. dark color points to liver 
disturbance ; but these are only some of the more marked 
changes easily observed by the eye. Where any doubt 
occurs as to the quantity or quality, a sample should be 
retained for the physician's inspection. Careful atten- 
tion must always be given to this secretion, as a perfect 
reading of it represents the health or sickness of the infant. 

Commencement of the Infant's Sickness. 

A child, no matter how young, always tells when its 
sickness commences. You ask me, How is that ? The child 
cannot talk. No; but it can cry, it can be wakeful, it can 
vomit, it can have fever, it can show something unnatural, 
by which means it will tell when it is sick. Take, for in- 
stance, any ordinary healthy child with whom you are ac- 
quainted; you know all its movements, all its habits, all 
its actions. When there is a deviation in any one point 
from its natural condition, that is saying, " I am sick." 
Therefore, parents recognize the commencement of sick- 
ness by this alteration. The mother will nearly always tell 
to the hour when the child became sick. An adult when 
sick will have to think awhile before he can tell this; a 
child knows it immediately, and says it at once by its un- 
natural conduct. Now, such being the case, it becomes 
a mother's or nurse's duty, when in charge of healthy 
children, to be always on the watch for changes, and then 
call the physician as early as possible. Do not hesitate 



256 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Examine the napkins for red spots, sandy deposits, and 
dark brown stains. All indicate diseased conditions. 

The child always shows by its changed actions and 
temper the exact time when its sickness commenced. 



because many a child's life and the health of other's may 
be endangered by a few hours' delay. The evidences of 
infectious diseases may be early recognized in many in- 
stances, and the health of other children secured by 
prompt attention. 



CHAPTEE IX. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 



Infants Under One Year Old. 

An infant -who feeds after nursing- shows a deficiency 
in breast milk. This child is hungry and wakes fre- 
quently. 



May be divided into: 

1. Those nursed. 

2. Those hand fed. 

1. Those nursed may be subdivided according to 
digestive power into: 

(a) Nursed entirely till weaning time, ten to twelve 
months. 

(6) Nursed partly till eight or nine months old, and 
also fed dilute cow's milk or cream and some boiled cereal 
on account of failing milk supply or poor quality of it. 

(c) Nursed two to three months and fed diluted cream 
and milk alone or some boiled starch water also, to 
supplement the milk supply or improve the nutrition of 
the infant. 

The younger the infant is, the more dilute must be the 
food given to supplement the mother's milk. Where the 
weekly gain in weight of the infant does not reach four 
ounces, supplemental feeding should at once be com- 
menced. 

Where doubt exists about a sufficiency of mother's 

17 257 



258 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"When short of milk, always feed diluted and sweet- 
ened cream before nursing. 



milk to satisfy the infant, it should be fed after nursing. 
The infant who has had plenty will not drink ; the hungry 
one will. An infant who cannot sleep and is not in pain, 
or who grasps and lets go of the nipple frequently, is 
being starved. 

All increases or changes of food to be successful must 
produce healthy yellow, inodorous, well-digested stools. 
This rule does not apply to the feeding of raw meat or 
meat juices. In these cases, the mother must be governed 
by the comfort, sleep, and naturalness of the infant, 
rather than by the stools, as these are dark colored and 
of a rank odor if a raw meat or meat juice diet is used. 

2. Hand fed infants may be classified, like nursing ones, 
into monthly periods, by substituting healthy cow's milk 
or cream in the humanized form, with cereals in place of 
breast milk. So great have been the advances in making, 
selecting, caring of and humanizing cow's milk during 
the last few years, that the necessity for wet nurses has 
been greatly reduced, provided the child has not been first 
damaged by injudicious dietary. As this occurs so fre- 
quently, mothers cannot be too careful in starting the 
infant's dietary in the proper cream direction, and then 
watching always for yellow, well-digested stools, so that 
no error can- occur to prevent its even and steady growth. 

Every child should have at least three to four months' 
healthy nursing of mother or wet nurse, if possible, to 
give it a fair start in life. Children who have this will 
be more easily fed and more successful in growth than 
those who are hand fed from birth. Children born in 
the spring should have more than three months of nurs- 
ing, as it is unsafe to wean them in the hot weather. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 



259 



The mother should nurse the infant for two or three 
months if successful in doing it. 



Weigh the Baby Regularly. 

In no house should the weight of the baby be in doubt 
or uncertainty any week of its life. For thirty cents any 
hardware store will supply spring scales (Figure 41), 
good enough to show comparative progress in the little 
one. Every child, when properly fed, shows daily prog- 
ress in weight. This varies at 
different ages in every child, and 
also with different children. A 
child should increase at least four 
to five ounces weekly during the 
first six months, and a little less 
weekly from six to twelve months. 
Where a child does not make 
this progress, the parents should 
at once seek out the cause, for 
now is the time when damage 
commences, and the foundation 
for future disease and deformity 
is laid. A child which does not 
gain steadily in weight is in a 
dangerous condition. Among these children, summer 
bowel disturbances mainly show themselves and give 
their great mortality. These are the children who in 
after years show the marks of a poorly nourished era in 
infancy. 

Weaning the Baby. 

This is a very important matter, and one which should 
never be commenced without first carefully considering 
the subject and deciding upon the necessity for it. Great 
diversity of opinion exists among mothers as to the 




Figure 41. 



260 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Sudden .-weaning- sickens and kills many children. 

"Weaning- should be done so carefully and slowly that 
the infant does not recognize the change. 



proper age, season of the year, time of the moon, condi- 
tion of the teeth, ability to digest, condition of the bow- 
els, and general health of the child necessary before 
commencing this important change. There are again 
other mothers who consider their own health and condi- 
tion before contemplating this change. Again, there are 
mothers where this necessity for weaning does not allow 
them to consider any of the above points, where in fact it 
must be done regardless of any infantile conditions which 
may be present. This latter is frequently accompanied 
by sad and trying, if not fatal, results to the little one. 

Where we have a choice, it is well to nurse the child 
till it is ten to twelve months old, according to the season 
of the year. Approaching hot weather is the only condi- 
tion which presents tangible reasons for weaning before a 
healthy child is a year old. It is better to wean in May 
at nine or ten months, than in July or August at a year 
old. As between weaning a healthy child of nine or ten 
months before the hot weather appears, and the same 
child after the hot weather has passed by, or during the 
hot months if the necessity for it arise, there should be 
no doubt. The object to be sought is a good condition 
of health, and a dietary which you can control during the 
hot or dangerous months, when so many children die of 
digestive disturbances and their bad sequels. This can- 
not be done while depending on the mother, whose health 
or milk may, and most likely will, become deteriorated 
during the hot season. 

Few women can successfully nurse through the second 
summer, and when the heat causes failure, the child must 



CARE OF THE BABY. 261 

Change or increase the diet when the infant does not 
gain four ounces "weekly. 

Diet the child properly, and you can wean any time 
of the year if necessary. 

Bad odors, green color, slime, or watery stools show 
the food is not agreeing with the infant. 



be weaned under the most unfavorable conditions, that 
is, when sick, its customary food lost, and the digestive 
organs irritated. By weaning carefully in May or early 
June, when healthy, no disturbance is caused, and a 
reliable and unchangeable diet is established. 

This new diet must not be changed, except by increas- 
ing the quantity till the cool weather of October returns. 
Then nearly all danger from digestive disturbances has 
passed by, and an enlarged and more varied dietary can 
be adopted with safety. 

The necessities in weaning a healthy baby are to so 
conduct the change that the child remains healthy; in 
other words, make the changes in food so carefully, in 
quantity and quality, that the digestive organs are not 
disturbed. This can only be done by supplanting a small 
amount of the mother's milk with humanized cream or 
cow's milk once daily, and continuing this if satisfactory 
yellow stools follow it, for two days, before another addi- 
tion may be made. 

Only a portion of any meal should be changed at once, 
not a full meal, as it often requires only one meal to 
cause vomiting and diarrhea. By always waiting two 
days to prove a new food or addition before making 
another change, an exact knowledge of what agrees and 
what disturbs is obtained. Kew foods should always be 
tested as part meals only, and several half -meals are safer 
than one whole meal in any day. 



262 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Make only one change in the kind or amount of food 
every two days. 

Children nursed over a year are never as healthy as 
those weaned when a year old. 



When diluted cow's milk or cream is successfully taken, 
then oatmeal or rice, boiled well for three hours, can be 
added in even teaspoonful quantities to the milk, and con- 
tinued in this amount for two days before another increase 
can be safely made. When the natural, well-digested 
stools, of proper color and consistence, free from all bad 
odors, show that cow's milk and the starch of oatmeal and 
rice are properly digested, there can be no mistake made 
in gradual weaning, if this food is not given in too large 
quantities at a time. This mistake is quickly detected 
by watching the stools and their odor. Errors will at 
once show in their changed character. When a two 
days' proof of each change is exacted, little errors only 
can occur, and these are easily corrected, by falling back 
to the last proven successful change. 

Weaning should be completely perfected in daytime, 
before commencing to change the night dietary. When 
the child can digest a fair meal of milk, with well-boiled 
oatmeal or rice, the principal requisite in weaning is 
secured. Completing the change is only the judicious 
addition of these to each meal in not too great amounts. 

After weaning is completed, other articles in diet- 
ary may be considered when safe to do so. The cow's 
milk and starch of any cereal, represent all the elements 
needed in the infantile dietary, and may be continued 
indefinitely. These two articles will give perfect nutrition. 

When the above precautions are not observed in 
quality and quantity, the child is likely to suffer from 
stomach and bowel disturbances, which may seriously 



CARE OF THE BABY. 263 

If possible, avoid weaning- in hot weather. 

It is better to wean when the mother's milk produces 
foul, green, or watery stools. 



endanger its life. If successfully weaned, it continues 
to grow without any interruption from weaning. 

Sudden Weaning. 

Sudden weaning of the baby is never safe, and the 
younger the child and the warmer the weather, the 
greater is the danger. Where the age is over six months 
and the child partly fed already, the danger is not so 
great; but it is a common occurrence to find serious sick- 
ness result from injudicious feeding, even while nursing, 
as well as while weaning, and many deaths can be directly 
traced to dietetic errors at these times. 

Right Time to Wean. 

Weaning should always be accomplished before the 
child is a year old, and while it is in good health. 

Exceptions to this rule occur from climatic and health 
reasons. 

A child should never be weaned from choice during 
June, July, or August, and rarely during September. 
This may necessitate weaning at nine months old, or not 
till thirteen months old. 

A strong idea prevails among mothers in favor of 
nursing through the second summer. This is always 
a mistake. Rarely do we find a woman who nurses per- 
fectly after ten or twelve months. True it is, that many 
will do it, but these children never thrive as well after ten 
months as they have done before it. They suffer greatly 
from, colic, indigestion, diarrhea, and consequent cross- 
ness. It is among such children that we find fatal summer 



264 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always wean while the child is healthy and before 
a year old, if possible. 



disturbances, and who, if they survive, are prone to be 
rickety. The milk of the mother is liable to unavoidable 
changes, and should never be relied upon for the second 
summer, as it may compel the child to be weaned during 
warm weather, and when sick. 

Weaning During Sickness. 

Frequently we find during sickness that the child's 
stools show imperfect digestion, though the sickness is not 
from that cause. Such cases will commonly not improve 
in their sickness till the diet is changed. The continued 
irritation and loss of sleep from the unsuitable food effect- 
ually prevents improvement. This is always an unfortu- 
nate complication, and materially enhances the dangers 
of even an otherwise moderate sickness. This occurs, of 
course, at all ages, but is more common as the child 
grows older and its mother's milk is less suitable as the 
only diet. 

Requisites for Successful Weaning. 

1. A healthy child from three to twelve months old. 

2. Substitution of food, not an increase. 

3. Pure cow's milk or cream diluted (page 110), as 
the first requisite. 

4. Well boiled (three hours) oatmeal or rice, a second 
requisite. 

5. At first, parts only of any meal should be substi- 
tuted. 

6. Make only one change at a time. 

7. Wait two days before making the next change. 

8. Natural stools — yellow, inodorous, and mustard 
paste consistence — are proof of success. 






CARE OF THE BABY. 265 

Overfeeding- or an unsuitable food causes colic and 
crossness in the infant. 



9. Change the day dietary successfully before attempt- 
ing to change the night feeding. 

10. No full meals of the new dietary should be given 
till perfect digestion is proven all day in part meals. The 
healthy, well-digested, yellow stool, void of rank odor and 
well formed, is the only proof of 'success. 

The above conditions are ideal. Unfortunately, too 
often the sick child must be weaned, and then the above 
requisites must be scrupulously observed to avoid a seri- 
ous sickness. 

Cross or Colicky Babies. 

Any deviation from the proper quality or quantity of 
milk is shown in the colicky or cross condition of the 
child. Parents should always remember that the cross- 
ness is an evidence of an error or ill health, and this, in 
the vast majority of cases, arises from distress in the stom- 
ach or bowels. The child is never cross from its 
natural disposition. It always is cross, merely as an 
expression of suffering. This is the only way the little 
one can tell its nurse or mother that all is not right with 
it. In this manner it calls for relief, and a proper under- 
standing of this infantile language leads, or should lead, 
to a removal of the irritation, and consequent crossness. 
While some delicate children have very defective diges- 
tive organs, and consequently are cross from this 'cause, 
the great majority of so-called "cross babies" have 
healthy stomachs and are amenable to treatment. 

This treatment in some may be medicinal only, but in 
the vast majority it will be largely dietetic. Errors in 
the milk, due to the health of the mother, her diet, her 



266 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A cross baby is always sick, more or less, generally 
MORE. 

Crossness, without ample gain in weight, leads to 
sickness. 



occupation, or her mental and physical condition, most 
frequently give the solution of the difficulty. 

While some cross children thrive and improve in spite 
of their crossness, they do so because they have inherited 
strong constitutions and good digestive organs. They 
would do much better if they had no cause for cross- 
ness. 

Other frail children gradually fail under this cross 
habit, and aside from the distress and anxiety they cause, 
soon show the rickety or scorbutic condition, develop 
slowly, become pale and anemic, suffer from stomach and 
bowel affections, are nervous and liable to convulsions, 
and generally die when attacked by the usual infantile 
diseases. Even when they survive, they carry the marks 
of their cross era, either in poor teeth, weak digestion, 
bone deformities, imperfect development, or strong lia- 
bility to show any weakness which may be in their ances- 
tors. The great bulk of our deformed, bow-legged, hump- 
backed, hammer-headed, sallow, ill-looking specimens of 
humanity that we see on our streets daily, can trace their 
bad history back to a poor ancestry, a cross infantile era, 
or both. 

From the foregoing remarks, it is plain that cross 
babies may be divided into two classes: 

1. The healthy cross. 

2. The sickly cross. 

The former are those who look perfectly well, are fat 
and strong, with the bloom of health in their every fea- 
ture, and make a weekly increase in weight of over five 



CARE OF THE BABY. 26? 

Eating- too much meat, milk or eggs, will often cause 
colic and crossness in the infant. 

The mother should stop eating potatoes when her in- 
fant is colicky and cross. 



ounces regularly. The latter are those who look pale and 
pinched, with soft flesh, and disturbed . digestive organs, 
showing unhealthy stools. They make less than the 
necessary five ounces weekly for a healthy child. 

In the first class, or the healthy cross, if nursed, the 
mother should seek the error, in her worries, overwork- 
ing, overeating, or eating unsuitable food. If after cor- 
recting her worries, reducing her toil, and eating less, 
the infant still remains cross, the cause will usually be 
found in some one article of her own food, which she 
cannot digest perfectly. In such cases, the writer has 
succeeded usually by having the mother refrain from 
eating, for a week, one article after another of her regu- 
lar diet till the offending one is found. This he has usu- 
ally found in the meat; if not found in the meat, it is 
usually found in the potatoes. By persevering in this 
manner over the different items of the food, it is very 
seldom that a patient mother will not find a complete 
cure for the crossness of the baby, and quickly convert 
it into a pleasant, laughing, comfortable child. 

Where the infant is hand fed, the crossness is traceable 
to the kind of food, or to overfeeding. Here the amount 
should be lessened, and if that does not give a cure, then 
the quality is in error and the food should be changed. 

In the second class— the sickly cross — those making 
less than five ounces weekly, if nursed they usually 
will not thrive till given a healthy wet nurse, or weaned 
entirely if the season allows it. Usually, these cases are 
starving, even though liberally fed. They cannot digest 



268 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

By stopping- one article after another in the mother's 
food, the cause of colic or crossness in a healthy infant 
is soon found. 

Crossness and colic in an infant making- less than 
five Ounces weekly, demand weaning or a change of 
food. 

the unsuitable food, and suffering with hunger makes 
them cross. 

Cross hand fed children with healthy stools are usu- 
ally hungry; those with foul smelling and otherwise 
unhealthy green or watery stools are wrongly fed. In 
all this second class of cross infants, if not corrected 
quickly, the result is poor growth and development, 
followed by death from diarrhea or the usual epidemic 
infantile diseases. 

Damaged Infants. 

By this we mean infants who have been wrongly fed, 
thus checking their growth. This results in slow increase 
of weight, no increase, or in some a decrease, according 
to the extent of the error and length of time the unsuit- 
able dietary has been continued. 

The adjustment of food to such cases is generally an 
uncertain task. The selection of the dietary must depend 
largely upon the history of the case and the previous 
food. Parents must bear in mind that these infants are 
often damaged beyond repair, and to prevent this fatal 
result, errors in dietary should be promptly corrected 
when first seen. 

The early detection is best secured by regularly weigh- 
ing at least once a week, and twice in serious or very 
young cases. Failure to increase in weight, or only 
slight increase, generally shows the error before the child 
complains or becomes restless. Any kind of stool other 



CARE Or THE BABY. 269 

A child is as old as its digestive glands are healthy. 

A child is usually damaged, through its digestive 
derangements. Foul stools give warning always. 

The healthy baby at one month old is often older 
than the delicate one six months old. 



than the healthy yellow, inodorous, mushy one, should 
make the parents suspicious of coming trouble in these 
cases, and demand frequent weighing to show progress. 
An infant must increase over four to five ounces weekly 
to be safe for the future. 

Age of the Baby. 

Viewed in the light of successful feeding, a baby is as 
old as its digestive organs are healthy. A mother, asked 
the age of her infant, answered: "Three months. He was 
born six months since, but he did not thrive or increase 
in weight during the first three months ; so I say he is 
only three months old." This may seem a strange 
answer, but practically it is the only correct one. If that 
mother had considered her infant three months old when 
he was that age and fed him accordingly, he would at six 
months be no older than at three months, and at three 
months old he was just born. That sounds like the prov- 
erbial Irish bull, but it carries the gist of sound sense. 

If we forget that the condition of the digestive organs 
controls the diet received and consequent nutrition, 
then we will fail continually in correcting the dietetic 
errors of infancy. The injured and abused stomach of 
the infant is not able to digest the food at three, four or 
six months, that the healthy stomach of the new-born 
infant will receive comfortably and digest perfectly. This 
power leaves the healthy new-born infant ahead of the 
sickly damaged three to six months old one in the race 



270 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

An infant must not nurse a mother suffering- from a con- 
tagious disease, or during a long sickness. 



of life, and it will probably keep ahead in weight also. 
Certainly it will be free from the damaging brands on 
the bones which will always be well stamped and easily 
visible on the bones of the sickly but older infant. 

Nursing a Sick Mother. 

Frequently the question arises during an acute sick- 
ness of the mother, "Can she nurse the baby?" This 
must be answered by the physician in charge, and 
requires very careful consideration. It is a most im- 
portant subject, as the future health and even life of the 
child may depend on the correctness of his answer. The 
following subjects must be considered from the mother's 
side. 

1. Is the disease transmissible? 

If so, she cannot nurse the child. This is nearly 
always imperative. 

2. Will her sickness last long? 

If so, her diet must be provided during the sickness 
so as not to damage the health, strength, and growth of 
the child; or, it must be weaned. 

3. What effect has the sickness on the milk secretion? 
Short attacks of sickness in vigorous mothers, such as 

tonsilitis, quinsy, indigestion, diarrhea, etc., may reduce 
the supply of milk for a few days, but not materially 
damage the quality of it. Such cases may continue 
nursing and, if needed, have the child also fed diluted 
cream; but severe attacks of sickness, such as occur in 
pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis, etc., contra-indicate nurs- 
ing. All contagious diseases prohibit nursing entirely, 
also all forms of sickness that in the least endanger the 
life of the mother. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 271 

To retain the milk secretion, keep the milk glands busy- 
by drawing the milk regularly. 



4. What medicines are needed in treating the mother? 
Very few diseases, except the short, self-limiting ones 

which can be treated almost entirely without medicines, 
are medicinally safe for the child. Nearly all medicines 
show their influence through the milk secretion, and the 
physician must carefully estimate the safest course for 
the child, whether that be through the mother's milk and 
necessary medicinal treatment, or through an entirely 
new dietary. 

5. Will the milk secretion continue through the 
sickness ? 

This is always an unknown quantity, but the first few 
days of sickness will settle this question definitely, as 
mothers generally continue secreting if the milk does not 
stop during the first three or four days of sickness. 

6. When will the mother be able to nurse again suc- 
cessfully ? 

This is also a subject involved in doubt. Mothers who 
desire to nurse again must continue drawing the milk 
twice or three times daily during sickness. When this is 
done successfully, both the amount and quality of the milk 
will follow in direct ratio with the convalescence. The 
time before full supply returns is individual; with some 
earlier than others, according to their milk secreting 
power and general vigor. 

Mothers who are seriously sick after six months' nurs- 
ing generally lose the milk secretion entirely. 

From the child's side of this question, we must con- 
sider the following features: 

1. What is the child's age? 

If six months or over, little anxiety need be felt about 



272 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The infant should not nurse a mother who is taking 
medicine. 



a healthy child, except during hot weather, as it may be 
weaned, or can be nursed partly and fed from the bottle 
or spoon for the balance of the required nourishment. 

Children under six months old should be mostly fed 
on cream or milk, properly diluted to their digestive 
capacity, as they are too young for safe weaning, and can 
easily be sickened by improper quality or quantity of 
food. These children should always be partly nursed, if 
possible. 

All babies under four months old should, if possible, 
have a wet nurse, otherwise the greatest care should be 
given to the details of preparing their diluted cream 
food, and only the smallest amount given daily to meet 
the necessities of nourishment. Nothing else can safely 
be allowed at this age, and in some even this will disturb 
the stomach. 

2. From what sickness, if any, has the child suffered? 
Where there has been previous derangement of the 

stomach or bowels, especially if repeated, sickness of the 
mother becomes a more serious matter, unless previous 
sickness has been due to bad quality of the mother's milk. 
Also where the child inherits a poor diathesis or constitu- 
tion, we find increased danger. Changes, except to a wet 
nurse, are dangerous in such cases always. Where a wet 
nurse cannot be obtained, very dilute cream mixture is 
the only other food safe or allowable. 

3. What is the child's present health? 

Any sickness, unless such as is the result of the 
mother's milk, adds very greatly to the dangers entailed 
by sickness of the mother. Occasionally a forced wean- 
ing is beneficial, as when the child is not thriving on the 



CARE OF THE BABY. 273 

After six months old, the infant should always be 
weaned if the mother is seriously sick. 

present nourishment. Each sickness of the child must 
be considered in detail, and action taken accordingly. 

4. If not nursed, how will it be fed? 

Here is a most important question and involves all the 
previous conditions, more or less. Everything bearing 
upon the case must receive careful attention, especially 
where a wet nurse cannot be obtained. The younger 
the child, the greater is the importance of this question, 
generally. These details are considered on pages 110 
and 163. 

5. Can you obtain a wet nurse for it? 

As will have been observed by the answers to former 
questions, a wet nurse is frequently desirable, and impera- 
tively needed at times, especially in the very young. 
Where a permanent one cannot be obtained at once, tem- 
porary ones or nursings should, in extremely young or 
delicate children, be hired or borrowed till the regular 
wet nurse is secured or the mother recovers. I have had 
three nursing women lending their united efforts to tide 
a delicate child over the acute sickness of the mother. 
In such cases, it is desirable to have the milk from a suc- 
cessful nursing mother, but in extreme cases, I would take 
any healthy human milk in preference to hand feeding. 

6. Does the mother's sickness occur during the hot 
weather or immediately prior thereto? 

This is a most important feature, and has a direct bear- 
ing on all ages. Warm weather greatly increases the 
dangers of changing dietary. As this is the season in 
which poisonous elements are developed in the milk, and 
also the season of weakest digestion, greater difficulty 
appears in hand feeding. 



274 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Children with delicate stomachs should always be 
weaned "when the mother becomes sick. 

Always hesitate to wean in hot weather. 



These facts strongly argue for a continuance of human 
milk, especially in the delicate and young. Where 
enough good human milk cannot be obtained, the child 
should always be allowed the full amount available, and 
fed the balance on humanized cream mixture. This 
mixed diet is better than complete weaning, just in pro- 
portion as it contains more good human milk. 

7. If hand fed, will the child nurse again? 

Here we must give an uncertain answer. If fed from 
a bottle and under six months old, it can probably be 
taught to nurse its mother again, especially if- the rubber 
nipples are graded to the size of the mother's, and not 
used so long as to make them soft and too easily nursed. 
Thick rubber is best in these cases, as it keeps up some 
difficulty in artificial nursing. If a child be over eight 
months old, it cannot always be taught to nurse again. 
If a child of any age be separated for a week from the 
act of nursing, it has generally lost this instinctive power, 
and cannot nurse again. This argues against spoon 
feeding always in these cases. 

8. Does the child's inheritance demand a wet nurse? 

This question requires the careful study of the attend- 
ing physician. Certain inherited diatheses are transmis- 
sible by birth, and aggravated by nursing. In such 
cases, the mother should not nurse any longer than is 
needed to keep the infant vigorous till the wet nurse is 
secured — one or two weeks. Tubercle and syphilis are 
the pronouncedly injurious inheritances. A nervous, 
anxious disposition in the mother may completely frus- 
trate her nursing power, reducing the quantity and 



CARE OF THE BABY. 275 

If reducing- the food does not correct the bad char- 
acter of the stools, 'weaning- should be considered. 

A hand-fed infant under six months old can always be 
taught to take the breast again. 



spoiling the quality of her milk. The other weaknesses of 
the mother's family can best be analyzed by the progress 
the infant makes weekly. When less than four ounces 
is gained weekly, the infant should always have a change 
of food. 

The weekly weighing of the infant must never be 
omitted. Judging this important matter by all other 
ways is dangerous. Puny, delicate children and early 
death too frequently follow all efforts at deciding this 
question by the appearance of the child or the opin- 
ion of your friends. Just as well might we discard the 
thermometer in a dangerous fever as decide the infant's 
nutrition without the scales in these doubtful cases. 

Teaching an Infant to Nurse the Breast Again. 

Where the bottle has been used regularly enough so 
that the nursing power has not been lost, the child can be 
induced to take the breast again, by starving it for some 
hours till very hungry, and then holding it up continu- 
ously against the breast, so close that it cannot avoid 
feeling the nipple in its mouth. This should always be 
done by a nurse or attendant, as it will weary the mother 
too much to do it alone, and besides, she cannot always 
see clearly enough to hold the mouth over the nipple. 
Even though the child be rebellious, as the older ones are, 
it will, when held there continuously, involuntarily draw 
at intervals, and receiving some milk will generally con- 
tinue nursing for some time. 

In younger children and the new born, the dropping 



276 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Marasmus is the result of imperfect nutrition. Any 
child could become marasmic; it is usually fatal. 



on the breast of sweetened water so it will trickle into 
the mouth will often be sufficient to start a hungry child 
nursing. Some children will when sleepy and in the 
dark, grasp the breast greedily. This process may be 
assisted by giving some sleeping potion to the little one, 
and thus numb the acuteness of the senses for one or two 
nursings. 

Generally, children over five or six months will refuse 
to take a wet nurse till starved to it, or until she wears 
the mother's clothes or nurses in the dark. Any or all 
of these maneuvers may be adopted when necessary in 
these cases. 

Unthrifty Children— Marasmus. 

Unthrifty — that is another word for sick. It means the 
same thing, and is always a result. If a result, find the 
cause and you may have the cure, or see where you can 
secure it. 

Unthrifty child means one who does not grow or show 
up to the usual standard of development. It may be due 
to inheritance, imperfect development of some of the 
internal organs, functional derangement of some organ, im- 
proper dietary, unsuitable hygiene, tocology — starvation, 
food deficient in some of the elements needed for perfect 
growth, gradual changes in tissue at some point, tuber- 
culosis, or any cause which prevents the requisite addi- 
tions in nutrition, or causes an unusual waste from the 
body, as in diarrhea. 

These children are an intricate study and require the 
most careful attention of the physician to find the errors 
and correct them. They require regular weighing and 



CARE OF THE BABY. 277 

A wet nurse is the surest preventative against 

marasmus. 



measuring, so that there is no doubt about their progress. 
By this means only can their slow progress receive that 
prompt attention needed for successful development. 

Parents must always remember that the unthrifty child 
requires more blood of a better quality. This can only 
be obtained by securing a perfect appropriation of a 
greater amount of food. It may not, indeed it does not 
generally, mean more food; but it means converting a 
greater amount of good suitable food into blood. This 
may, and generally does, demand temporary assistance for 
the infant's digestive organs till the color of the skin 
improves, the weight becomes greater, and the flesh 
harder. 

These unthrifty children are usually those nursed by a 
poor milk secreting mother, those nursed too long, and 
overfed or improperly fed, hand raised infants. In all 
these cases, the error occurs at the entrance of nutriment 
into the circulation, and should receive prompt attention to 
prevent irremediable damage to the infant's development. 

When these children progress far in this unhealthy 
condition, there is always great doubt about their 
recovery. There is a point from which they cannot 
recover. These cases are suffering from marasmus — 
a condition in which they daily grow poorer and smaller 
till the end comes. 

Bad Smelling Babies. 

Aside from the unavoidable odors present at times with 
every infant, we find in some there are odors always pres- 
ent, not attributable to outside causes, uncleanliness, 
soiled diapers, etc. 



278 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY, 

Overfeeding- and bad digestion make foul smelling 
babies. Some naturally smell strong. These have usu- 
ally rough skins. 

Decomposition of food inside the body, and of the 
secretions on the skin, cause the bad odors. Less food 
and yellow stools generally give the cure. 

Some infants are born with this unpleasant odor, and 
others soon develop a continuously bad odor on their 
clothes through decomposition instead of digestion of 
their food, and the exhalation of resulting foul gases 
through their skin, lungs, and bowels. 

Generally, it will be found that these foul babies 
become sweet and pleasant when their food is adjusted to 
their proper digestive capacity. Mostly all these are 
overfed, hand raised babies. 

There are a few babies who smell badly on account of 
inheriting a heavy, greasy, or rough skin. The odor in 
these cases is due to the decomposition continually pres- 
ent on their unhealthy surfaces. Continual washing and 
cleansing are needed in these cases to preserve a dry, 
smooth condition. Many of them are also benefited by 
internal medication, such as will produce a more healthy 
general condition of the body. The greatest efforts 
should be made to overcome this truly unpleasant condi- 
tion. 

. Externally, the addition of boracic acid, one teaspoon - 
ful to the pint of washing water, is generally beneficial 
to those having unpleasant skins. 

Bathing the Infant. 

The healthy child commences life with a bath, and con- 
tinues this treatment regularly all through infancy, and 
with less frequency as it grows older. The temperature 



CARE OF THE BABY, 279 

Cleanliness is secondary to both heat and speed in 
bathing 1 the new-born baby. 



of the bath and the frequency of repetition are subjects 
for continual varieties of opinion. In the newly -born 
child, emerging from a constant temperature of 98-| 
degrees, it is reasonable to expect that any deviation 
from that heat would produce an appreciable effect on 
the child. This is a well-known fact. There is nothing 
so important as temperature at this time, and many chil- 
dren are injured by exposure in the first bath, due to 
coldness of the water used, the time wasted in bathing, or 
the coldness of the room in which it is done. It is much 
better to be solicitous about the heat than the cleanliness 
of the child. A second washing will perfect the cleaning, 
but a chilling may produce grave results. The bath 
should always be 98 to 100 degrees, renewing the water 
regularly. 

Repetitions of bathing are the rule and necessity with 
these little ones. There is no law against this necessary 
operation when cleanliness demands it, so long as the skin 
is healthy and strong ; but in many instances we find that it 
is overdone and the skin very much irritated, becoming 
red, angry, and raw. Whether this irritation is due to fre- 
quent wetting, friction in washing, or the use of soap, 
should be determined and the error corrected accordingly. 

Generally, it becomes necessary in these cases to secure 
absolute dryness, smoothness of the surface, and lessened 
friction to these irritated surfaces to obtain a cure. This 
can be done by using sweet oil instead of water, and no 
soap, being sure to rub very lightly and not more than 
is absolutely necessary for cleanliness. This leaves a 
slight oily coating on the skin, which is a protection 
against moisture and facilitates the healing process. 



280 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Eruptions on an infant should always be oiled, but 
never washed. 

Below 90 degrees is cold to the infant, and above 100 
degrees is hot. Between these two points is warm and 
comfortable. 



In addition, when needed for healing, some alkaline 
powder, such as magnesia, fuller's earth, or compound 
talcum may be freely applied at each dressing over the 
oil. If this is faithfully and judiciously done, there need 
be no scalding, abrasions or rash (commonly called " red 
gum"), and when these are present, the oil washing should 
be persevered in till a cure is obtained. No soap or 
water should be applied to these tender surfaces till the 
skin is perfectly healthy and natural. This often re- 
quires weeks. 

Temperature of the Bath. 

This is a subject requiring thought, and no law is applic- 
able to all children, all ages, and all conditions. As the 
baby becomes older and as the weather becomes warmer, 
the bathing water may be used colder than 98 degrees F. 
in the perfectly healthy child. Also the time spent in 
the bath may be extended with benefit, but no child 
should be allowed to remain in the water more than five 
minutes under the most favorable circumstances. Daily 
repetitions of long baths are weakening to the child; but 
repetitions of short cooling baths are a tonic, and protec- 
tion against sickness and overheating in very warm 
weather. Where they are made very short, they may be 
repeated frequently, and where they are applied simply 
as a cooling sponging, they may be used every few hours 
in hot weather with great advantage to the healthy child, 
and in very many conditions also to the sickly child. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 281 

Sudden plunging into the water, putting the infant's 
head under the water, using too cold water, all frighten 
the infant. 



Pear of the Bath. 

Many infants enjoy bathing; in fact, most of them will 
if properly applied, but there are some who dread it. 
This fear is caused generally by the heat or the coldness 
of the water, or by some accident, shock, or smarting while 
bathing. Sudden plunging of the infant into it or under 
the water will produce a shock and subsequent fear of a 
repetition. Some mothers have an idea of strengthening 
the child by using the water colder than is comfortable. 
This is founded on the thought that cold baths are 
strengthening and warm ones weakening; but this is 
not applicable to the delicate immature infant, who has 
no power of generating heat by activity or expressing its 
misery when too cold. The proper warm reaction is 
always needed after bathing in order to have it beneficial. 
Where the limbs remain cold afterward, or where blue- 
ness of the lips is present, the temperature has been 
too low or the bath too long. Either is injurious. 

Testing the Water. 

Care should be used in securing a proper temperature 
of the bath. While generally the hand will tell this 
clearly enough for a healthy child, it will not do so under 
all circumstances. If you grasp a hot cloth, iron or any 
hot substance in your hand for a few minutes and then place 
the open hand in water, you will realize how differently 
the palm and back of this hand report the temperature. 
This "will show the necessity of having the hand at the ordi- 
nary temperature of the body, and not previously in either 
a hot or cold condition when thus testing the water for the 



282 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The comfortable temperature is the right one for the 
infantile bath. Long baths are injurious. 



child. This is important, as thus you avoid the shock and 
consequent crying of the infant from wrong temperature. 
Where you are in doubt, use the thermometer. While 
the healthy temperature of all internal organs is about 
98-| degrees, the surface or skin temperature is only from 
93 to 95 degrees. It will be desirable to commence 
bathing between these two extremes, remembering that 
soon the water will fall below the lowest, and if there is 
much delay will require renewal of the heat. 

Hot Baths vs. Cold Baths. 

From what we have said, you can readily understand 
what is meant by a hot bath or a cold bath. If the sur- 
face temperature is 94: degrees, water warmer than this 
and up to the internal temperature, 98-J degrees, must be 
classed as a warm bath. If over the internal tempera- 
ture, 98 \ degrees, it should be classed as a hot bath; and 
if slightly below the surface temperature of 90 degrees, 
should be considered a cool bath, gradually becoming a 
cold bath with decreasing temperature. Do not forget 
that no matter what the commencing temperature may 
be, by evaporation all become cool or cold baths very 
rapidly. 

The Bath in Sickness. 

It is only within a few years that we have come to 
realize the value of the thermometer in sickness. When 
the writer studied medicine, 1860 to 1864, and for many 
years after, a fever thermometer was not known. Since 
we have this guide, we have been enabled to study intel- 
ligently the use of heat and cold as applied in a bath 



CARE OF THE BABY. 283 

. Always use tepid, cool, cold or colder water every hour 
or two till rest and comfort are secured in fevers. 

Always apply heat to the cold parts and cold to the hot 
parts. This regulates the circulation. 



during sickness. Perhaps in no feature of treating sick 
children, except dietary, have greater advances been 
made than in the intelligent application of hot and 
cold water as therapeutic agents. Well do I remember 
how persistently the custom of applying hot water under 
any and all conditions of sickness was blindly and unin- 
telligently followed at all seasons of the year. Twenty 
years ago, physicians were compelled to politely and 
meekly ask the parents or friends for the privilege of 
applying cold water to the feverish or burning child. 
Many times it was fearfully refused; but let him then 
suggest hot water, and an immediate rush was made, even 
on the hottest day in summer, to build a fire to boil the 
water. Never have I seen this refused, but all were will- 
ing, with a hot bath, to make the hot child hotter. Un- 
der these conditions we could only obtain our object by 
using lukewarm water and continuing the bath for con- 
siderable time. Thus, by evaporation, and not allowing 
the addition of more warm water, we obtained the tem- 
perature necessary for curative purposes. Even to-day, 
in the majority of cases, this gradual cooling tempera- 
ture in bathing is most -comfortable and suitable to the 
sick child. After the patient has once entered the water 
at a comfortable temperature of about 95 degrees, either 
cold or hot water can be steadily added till the bath is 
brought to the temperature needed. In this way all 
shock is avoided by first sudden contact. In cases of 
sickness this may be repeated every few hours with per- 
fect safety when necessity demands it. 



284 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always rub well when bathing. This keeps the blood 
moving. 



Different Kinds of Baths. 

The varieties in baths at present are mostly those of 
temperature. Cool or cold baths are used to lower the 
temperature in febrile diseases; hot baths are for the 
contrary, to elevate the temperature in the chilled or 
collapsed condition which occurs at the beginning of the 
sickness or during some serious advanced stage, where 
coldness of the extremities, trembling, blueness, or 
extreme whiteness are present. Where it is not possible 
to use the whole water bath, local cold or hot applications 
are substituted for them. 

Cold Applications. 

Local cold applications are made with ice or cold water. 
Ice must be used sparingly in contact with sick babies. 
If allowable in any case, it must be only for a few min- 
utes or in small quantities, as it soon stops or limits the 
circulation in the part to which it is applied, and then 
its beneficial effects are largely lost. This can be seen in 
the whiteness of the part, soon following the contact' of 
the ice. The idea in the cold application is the extraction 
of heat. Where the treatment is made for its local effect 
and not for a constitutional result, finely cracked ice rolled 
up in a towel or mixed with sawdust, may be applied advan- 
tageously ; or it may be placed in a rubber bag, where it 
can be kept in position. In all these forms the ice soon 
melts and we have only a cold water application of low 
temperature. This is generally all the circulation will 
stand, for it is requisite that we have a free flow of blood 
in this part in order that the extra heat will be rapidly 



CARE OF THE BABY. 285 

Cold bathing" gives the most effectual cooling. Frequent 
head bathing is generally all an infant requires. 

and regularly carried by the circulation to the cooling 
applications and thus dispersed. 

Cold applications of a low temperature are readily 
made with cloths of several thicknesses and the size 
required to cover the part treated. One cloth is applied 
to a large lump of ice till cold and then placed on the 
patient, while another cloth is kept on the ice ready to 
change as soon as needed. By thus alternating the 
cloths, continued cold applications of a soft, light kind are 
very successfully obtained for limited surfaces. 

The most successful way of making cooling applica- 
tions for the general constitutional effect is by local 
bathing of the head, neck, and shoulders, or any large 
part, with cold water frequently changed. As the 
necessity for this treatment comes mostly in the hot sea- 
son, it is not an unpleasant occupation. This form of 
bathing must be carried out till relief is obtained, and as 
it is commonly required in very young children, only a 
limited portion of the body, the head most generally, is 
enough to give good results. This cooling bath may 
continue for many hours, and is best done with a soft cotton 
cloth. This gives that close contact with the skin which 
sponge and wool do not. In this form a large basin of 
water with a small lump of ice in it, or the water fre- 
quently changed to keep it cool, is required for the 
effect. I find it necessary to always specify this, as the 
tendency is to .use a small amount of water and not 
change it frequently. This slow, steady, and noiseless 
moving of the cloth over the head conduces to rest by 
its soothing and cooling influence, and by the rapid 
evaporation. Little children who are too feverish to 



286 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Use a large basin of "water and change it every half 
hour or less for successful cooling' in hot infants. 

Head bathing is more valuable in infants than in adults, 
as the proportion of head to body is ten times greater than 
in the adult. 



sleep will soon be soothed into slumber by this method, 
and many of them will continue sleeping only while these 
cooling applications are continued. 

Cold cloths, as generally applied, are a failure and do 
not obtain the object in view. They require frequent 
changing, and to be thick enough to extract heat. A 
cloth that is allowed to become warm before removal does 
little, if any, good. The attendant in this form of treat- 
ment too often tries to do something else at the same 
time. She thus forgets to change the cooling cloth 
frequently. She cannot even talk while doing this work, 
as that diverts her attention and causes neglect. As the 
head is the part most commonly in danger in high 
temperatures, it is the part that must be bathed, and 
experience shows that the large circulation of blood there 
will soon exhaust all the superabundant heat in the body 
in ordinary cases, if proper bathing is applied to it and 
continued long enough. This may and does often de- 
mand many hours of continuous work. It may be con- 
tinued as long as coldness of the extreme points — ears, 
nose, fingers, and toes — does not indicate reduced cir- 
culation in them. 

Rubbing in the Cold Bath. 

Friction, or rubbing of the surface while in the cold 
bath or while making cold applications, is always neces- 
sary. The tendency is to stagnation or slowing of the blood 
current from contact with cold. As the blood is the 



CARE OF THE BABY. 287 

agent which travels around carrying the heat to different 
parts, it becomes necessary always to facilitate its move- 
ments when reducing its temperature. This is done by 
constant rubbing of the surface while in contact with the 
cold water. This rubbing should be moderately brisk 
and with some force. This also moves the water and 
constantly brings a fresh, cool contact with the skin. All 
parts in contact with the cold water require this constant 
rubbing, and it should be fairly brisk and heavy to be 
successful. If coldness continues in the extremities after 
the bath, or collapse, blueness of the lips, and chilly 
feelings are complained of, a little whisky may be given, 
and hot applications made to the feet, with continued 
friction and warm coverings. These must be discontinued 
when healthy and comfortable reactionary warmth has 
been established. 

The Bed Bath. 

Where it is inconvenient or impossible to remove the 
patient from bed for a bath, or where there is insufficient 
help to lift him, a bath may be given in the bed by using 
a rubber sheet under the patient, and having it large 
enough to have the edges and ends rise over pillows or 
rolls all around the patient. In this way you construct 
a bath-tub in the bed, and the water can be poured around 
the patient till enough is obtained for this purpose. By 
keeping the rubber cloth under the sheet, it is always in 
position, and one attendant can, in an emergency, give 
the bath alone. This is suitable for very weak babies. 

The Ice Bath. 

Where no means of bathing are at hand, and a cooling 
treatment is demanded, the patient may be rubbed or 



288 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Never apply ice or ice water to an infant. "Water at 
60 degrees F. is cold enough usually if applied freely. 

Woolen goods are the best protection to the young 
infant. "White is the best color. 



ironed slowly with a lump of ice, till the thermometer in- 
dicates a sufficient reduction of temperature. This way 
of applying cold furnishes also the necessary friction or 
rubbing to the surface. 

The Cold Pack. 

This application is made daring the early stages of an 
acute sickness, while the patient is yet vigorous. It 
might be described as painless bleeding, because its 
efficacy depends largely on depletion. Here the serum 
of the blood is drawn through the skin in the profuse 
perspiration which follows soon after the warm reaction 
is established. The patient is rolled in a wet cotton" or 
linen sheet, which is well soaked with cold water; or two 
sheets, and then a flannel blanket may also be used where 
the high temperature of the patient demands much cool- 
ing. In this patient, the temperature is above the per- 
spiring point, and the cold sheets rapidly extract the 
superfluous heat. Over the wet sheets, abundance of 
blankets and coverings are spread to cause warmth and 
profuse perspiration as soon as the temperature falls 
to the perspiring point. This perspiring stage may be 
continued for an hour or two, or till relief is obtained. 
The patient may then have a change of sheets and under- 
clothing, or the outside coverings of the bed may be 
reduced gradually, and the underclothes allowed to dry 
on the patient. Where the patient falls asleep, the latter 
is perhaps preferable, leaving the changing of clothes till 
they are dry, when there is less danger of the chilling effect. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 289 

Ice checks the current of blood and then does not cool so 
rapidly as cold water. 



The Steam Bath. 

This aims at reducing temperature by evaporation, and 
is applicable to nervous patients who dread the cold con- 
tact of the pack. It is a very successful, mild, and 
pleasant way of treating all moderate cases, and will reach 
probably two-thirds of the acute sicknesses requiring 
cooling treatment. It presents no mental shock to the 
sensitive patient, and is always accepted without any 
demur. The materials needed are two to six hot irons o r 
bricks, or bottles filled with hot water and well corked. 
The latter often fail through the corks leaking or coming 
out entirely and wetting the bed. A towel soaked in 
warm water and wrung as dry as possible, is then wrapped 
around each hot iron, brick, or bottle. These are placed 
alongside the patient from feet to shoulders, and plenty 
of covering over all to retain the steam around the 
patient. In a few minutes this steam moistens, softens 
and warms the surface so that the perspiring condition is 
established, and can be continued thus until the desired 
result is obtained. 

The Douche or Spray Bath. 

This form of bathing is now mostly used for local 
affections, such as strained ankles and severe bruises. It 
can be used also for constitutional effects, but the labor 
and exposure of patient are too great for its general 
adoption. It is most commonly applied with a gardener's 
sprinkling can, and requires a rubber cloth or large vessel 
underneath to again collect the water. This latter feature 
is a strong objection to this form of bathing, but for arms 
and feet it is still used considerably. The indications 

19 



290 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

for continuance and repetition are the comfortable sensa- 
tions produced by the water in the affected part. 

The Mustard Bath. 

This is made by the addition of quarter to half a pound 
of mustard to five gallons of hot water. The object is, of 
course, to act as a powerful and large counter-irritant to 
the surface in extreme cases of collapse or internal con- 
gestions, while the surface is pallid or cold and blue. The 
water must always be retained hot, over 105 degrees, 
and the patient be kept immersed with frictions till the 
surface shows the bright coloration of mustard irritation, 
else it is no better than a hot bath alone. Additional 
hot water must be regularly added to retain the high 
temperature. 

Medicated Baths. 

These were very popular in the sick-room in years 
gone by. They were used for their supposed curative 
effect principally in skin and rheumatic affections. At 
the present time they receive little attention except at the 
mineral springs, where they are the principal treatment, 
combined with heat and massage. Their success is 
largely dependent upon their skillful adjustment to the 
disease, age, and strength of the patient. Coupled with 
this, of course, must be the dietetic and mental treatment 
of the patient. These baths are mostly now confined to 
rheumatic, and syphilitic cases of the chronic form. 
Rarely are they applicable to the acute forms of these 
diseases. While formerly, skin diseases were largely 
treated this way, at the present time little attention is 
given it. About the only relic of this medicated bath 
now in use is the addition of alcohol or salt to the water 
used in bathing. The utility of this is somewhat 



CARE OF THE BABY. 291 

Cooling' baths are invaluable in all feverish conditions. 
They should be repeated often enough to give quiet 
sleep. 



doubtful, and I have often thought the benefit was more 
mental than physical. As there are no contra-indications 
to their use, where consulted I leave them optional. 
Formerly, milk, whisky, and sulphur baths were very 
common and popular. The sulphur bath is the founda- 
tion of the mineral bath, sulphur being the principal con- 
stituent of the water. Here it is in combination with 
other ingredients, and gives the strong odor and taste to 
the water. 

Plunge Bath. 

As the name implies, this is dipping the patient sud- 
denly in cold or hot water, as demanded, and immedi- 
ately removing him, repeating the operation as 
directed. This bath is applicable only where the nervous 
sensations have become so benumbed and unresponsive 
that heroic measures are necessary to recall their natural 
sensitiveness. It is applicable to convulsions, some 
conditions of lung trouble, opium poisoning, in the 
moribund new-born child, and some other conditions, 
such as chills, where a profound shock is demanded. To 
produce the desired effect, the temperature of the water 
must be far from the natural 95 to 98 degrees of 
health, as hot as can be borne by the hand, or as cold as 
you can get it. In the repeated sudden contact with the 
whole surface nerves lies the effect desired. The hot and 
cold plunge may be alternated in extreme cases. 

Clothing the Child. 

As in all other features while nursing children, care, 
thought, and watchfulness must be continually exercised 
regarding the clothing of infants and young children. 



292 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"Woolen fibers are round and curved, holding- warm air 
in their meshes ; cotton and linen are flat and straight. 



Here the quality of the goods and color thereof; the age, 
size, and health of the child; the house, weather, and 
season of the year, must all be considered carefully when 
selecting the clothing. 

Clothing Fibers. 

Two features should always be considered in determin- 
ing the character of the clothes — the fiber and the color. 
By fiber, we refer to the original stock from which the 
texture is made. These fibers are wool, cotton, linen, 
and silk. The woolen fiber is round and more or less 
curved, so that cloth made from it never becomes flat and 
compressed, but. always touches the body lightly and 
holds a quantity of immovable air in its meshes. In this 
way, woolen goods become poor conductors of heat or cold, 
not carrying the heat out rapidly from the body, nor 
allowing the cold to easily reach the surface. 

Cotton and linen fibers are flat and straight, fitting 
closely together and making a solid mass when woven 
into cloth. Thus they become good conductors of heat 
and cold, and are suitable where light, smooth, cool 
textures are desired. They are particularly applicable 
where the surface is tender and easily irritated, as the 
fiat fiber of its structure gives little friction in well-made 
goods. 

Silk, being made of very fine, soft fiber, is also, particu- 
larly suited for underclothing. While it does not make 
into such warm textures as wool, yet it more nearly 
assimilates to it in character, and will frequently take its 
place, particularly where smoothness and warmth are 
both demanded. It has the smoothness of cotton or 



CARE OF THE BABY. 293 

Silk is next to wool as an infant's clothes fiber when heat 
is desired. 



linen when properly made, and makes a most suitable 
underclothing. The first cost will always prevent its 
general use, and when thin, light clothes are needed, the 
cotton and linen textures take precedence over it. 

Color of Clothing. 

This subject requires attention under many circum- 
stances. A common idea prevails that colored goods are 
warmer than white. This may be denied or indorsed, 
according to the position in which the colors are worn. 
Actual experiment shows that dark colors have greater 
absorptive powers for heat when exposed to the sun's rays 
than have white goods; consequently, this question must 
be considered from the position the colors occupy. In 
underclothing, where the sun is shut out, there can be no 
improvement in the heating power of a fiber by having 
colors which are themselves good conductors of heat and 
cold attached to them. On the contrary, the color must 
be a damage to all underclothing . The natural inference 
to be drawn from this is, that for summer goods and under- 
clothing, the absence of color is an advantage. Under 
the microscope it is found that colors are attached on the 
outside of the fibers in the form of fine crystals. These 
crystals, when exposed to the sun, act like the window 
glass, offering so many surfaces for attracting, increasing, 
and intensifying this heat, and thus explain the increased 
warmth of dark garments in sunny weather. 

Amount of Clothes. 

Age of the child must always be considered in dressing 
it. The new-born baby, accustomed to 98-| degrees, 
certainly cannot be dressed as the child a year old, who 



294 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Colors do not improve the quality of any fibre. 

Delicate children and newly-born infants require 
abundance of clothes. 



has become inured to varying temperatures from 65 
to 85 degrees or more. Here the necessity of a 
high temperature demands such clothes and amounts of 
them as will allow little escape of the natural heat; and 
while the smooth, soft cotton or linen textures are neces- 
sary next the delicate skin, abundance of woolen cover- 
ing must be added over them to maintain the equable 
heat necessary at this time. .These woolen goods should 
be new and soft, for when old, worn, and thickened by 
wear and washing, they are too hard and solid to be good 
heat retainers. While washing improves the softness 
and color of the vegetable fiber, it does the opposite with 
the animal fibers, wool and silk. 

Care, watchfulness, and judgment must be used in 
determining the amount of these warm clothes which can 
be successfully continued. As no rule is applicable both 
to the strong, vigorous babe of ten pounds, and the weak, 
immature one of six, so also there can be no rule applica- 
ble to the cold weather of winter and the hot days of sum- 
mer. A healthy child rests well when comfortable. - 
Either too little or too much clothing make it uncomforta- 
ble. Instead of sleeping quietly if properly fed, it will 
be crying and fretting at short intervals, or even con- 
tinuously in extremely cold or hot conditions. The 
condition of the surface and extremities helps to indicate 
an error on this point. Where too much heat is main- 
tained, perspiration, which is unnatural in young infants, 
is caused, and soon a fine nettle rash, somewhat resem- 
bling scarlatina, is produced. This rash will increase or 
decrease as the heat is raised or lowered, and may 



CARE OF THE BABY. 295 

Too much clothes cause perspiration and nettle rash. 

Clothes and exercise make heat. For the infant use 
more clothes ; for the active, running" child, more exercise. 



soon become a raw condition, which effectually prevents 
rest if the clothes are not lessened. On the contrary, 
where not enough clothing is used, coldness of the ex- 
tremities, and even blueness in some, will point to this 
error and demand more covering. 

With increasing age, strength, and weight, the infant 
acquires a greater heat manufacturing power, and a corre- 
spondingly smaller amount of clothes is needed; but it 
must be remembered, that until the child is able to gen- 
erate heat by activity, a great amount of covering is 
needed. 

While this gradual progress from a large to a small 
amount of clothes is the rule in healthy children, it forms 
no precedent in delicate ones. Many a delicate child of 
a year old will require as deep covering as the healthy 
new-born infant. Here the enfeebled digestive power, 
poor quality of blood, or unfortunate diathesis, demand 
the assistance of heat retaining garments to supplement 
his poor heat generating power. 

The necessity of some exposure daily in the open air 
for healthy and vigorous growth demands the use of the 
baby carriage. It is unnecessary to say that increased 
or decreased clothing will be needed according as your 
home is warmer or cooler than the outside atmosphere. 
On this point continuous care, thought, and reason must 
be exercised. One simple feature must be observed always, 
else the child returns to the house injured by the exposure 
rather than benefited. This is the natural temperature 
All cold winds must be avoided by position and imper- 
vious protective coverings. Remember, the cold air 



296 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Heat kills twenty infants for every one lost by the 
effects of cold. 



enters necessarily the nose, throat, and lungs. While the 
clothes can and will protect all other parts, avoidance of 
drafts, winds, and currents in addition are demanded to 
protect the air passages. Thus it is always necessary to 
keep the infant's head, and especially the face, away from 
the wind. 

Exposure in warm weather demands attention to protect 
the child from intense heat. Here we have an exposure 
which sacrifices many more infants than do the cold 
winds of winter. While from the latter we have many 
sicknesses of ears, throat, and nose, and some deaths also, 
from the former we have many deaths as well as sick- 
nesses. The tissues and organs affected by cold are not 
so vital and dangerous as are the ones affected by 
heat. The brain and nervous system are immature, large, 
and easily disturbed by increased heat. They are also less 
amenable to treatment than the air passages, and their 
disturbance more dangerous to life. Great precautions 
must be continually observed to avoid this intensity of 
heat, particularly should all direct exposure of the head 
to the sun's rays be avoided. While it is necessary to 
have this protection, it is important that covering should 
not be applied directly to the head that will in itself 
retain the heat. Evaporation in hot weather is a most 
important means of cooling and reducing temperature. 

As in feverish conditions we frequently find the appli- 
cations of cold to the head sufficient to reduce the general 
temperature, so in summer weather we commonly find 
evaporation from an uncovered yet shaded head an 
immense assistance in maintaining an equable and com- 
fortable condition of the whole body, and also a great 



CARE OF THE BABY. 297 

Change the clothes according* to the weather, not 
according to the month or hour of the day. 



protection or assistance in avoiding many sicknesses. 
Certainly whatever covering is worn in hot weather on 
the infant's head must be of such shape and character 
as will not impede a free evaporation of all moisture. 

Frequent changes of clothing in the summer season 
are an absolute necessity. Many are deterred from 
changing to lighter garments with the approaching warm 
weather or an unexpected warm spell, lest they may have 
to return to the heavier again. This is a mistake. What 
difference is it, whether you damage a child by heat in 
May or in August? The result is the same. Changes 
must be made according to the heat, not according to the 
month or preconceived ideas of seasons. Not only should 
the changes be made according to the day, but also 
according to the different hours of the day. In our 
changeable climate we frequently have the atmospheres 
of spring and summer, or summer and fall, in the same 
day. The amount of clothing must be adapted to the 
changes of the day and not the day to the clothing. The 
old-fashioned idea of hardening the child by exposure, 
must not be abused by applying it to the inactive infant. 
While it may be properly said to the child of five or six 
years, "Run and play," when complaining of cold, this 
cannot be said to the infant unable to run. Here heat 
must be obtained by clothing only, and changes of it 
made to meet variations of temperature. 

In the winter season there is not the necessity for 
frequent changes of clothes that exists in summer. The 
low temperature demands more regular clothing, and the 
atmospheric changes are not so frequent. As we then 
maintain artificially an equable inside heat in our houses, 



298 . FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Mothers should always keep infants out of wind cur- 
rents, and also out of the hot sun in summer time. 



we have better control of it than we have during the 
heated summer season. Thus, about the same amount of 
clothes can be worn in the house all the time, and an 
increase made when going out. 

Night Clothes, or Bed Clothing. 

At night before retiring, and also during sickness, it 
becomes necessary to dress children so as to avoid 
exposure and consequent sickness. Nearly all children 
become too warm and restless at night, and if possible 
kick off the clothes. All mothers testify to this habit 
in their little ones. During the unconsciousness of sleep 
they do not recognize the uncomfortable sensations of 
cold. Parents at first are hqrrified to find how cold the 
child becomes, and look for evidence of sickness to follow 
this exposure. Strange as it may seem, there appears to be 
an immunity against disease from the effects of cold pro- 
duced during these sleeping hours, as we are seldom able to 
trace the sickness to this cause. Many mothers protect 
their children from this by dressing them at bedtime in 
union garments, or long night-gowns which project 
beyond the feet and close at the lower end with a draw 
string. Both effectually prevent complete exposure. 

Where children are confined by sickness in rooms not 
properly heated in winter, it becomes necessary to put 
additional clothing over the shoulders, as during the 
waking hours it is impossible to keep the arms and shoul- 
ders covered. Even in well-heated houses, extra covering 
on those parts is desirable while in bed, to protect the 
child from rheumatism, throat and lung complications. 
All children confined to bed should have a complete or 



CARE OF THE BABY. 299 

Keep the infant's head uncovered when out of the 
house in hot weather. 



partial change of clothing, morning and evening. There 
are few sicknesses where this cannot be done, and 
the doing of it rests the little one by giving a change of 
sensations, position, and pressure that tends to better sleep 
and more comfort. 

The Abdominal Bandage. 

This feature in the infant's clothing is more esteemed 
than all other parts. In the minds of some mothers it 
is considered as almost sacred, and the removal of it 
before the child is two years old not to be thought of. 
It matters not what the season, heat, or sickness may be, 
they think this must be retained in some form or to some 
extent. Many times it consists of little more than a strip 
of cotton or wool well wrinkled up into a string under 
the child's arms. This, of course, is useless. 

The bandage" has two proper objects: First, the holding 
of the umbilical cord and dressings of the new-born 
infant till separation and healing have been accom- 
plished; second, the supporting or holding of a pad over 
the navel, in order to prevent a rupture extruding at that 
point, when in some children a complete closure of this 
opening has not been obtained. Beyond these two neces- 
sities no intelligent claims are made for it except for 
warmth. As the first umbilical necessity has generally 
passed away in four weeks, and the second navel neces- 
sity only occasionally occurs, there should be no use for 
this part of the clothing at all other times except for 
warmth or protection against exposure; consequently the 
mystery connected with it should be removed, and, the 
clothing of the abdomen considered in the same way as 



300 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The abdominal bandage protects the navel till healed 
perfectly. It is no benefit otherwise in hot weather. 



are all other parts of the body. Leaving out those two 
physical features which are only temporary, the abdominal 
cavity is as well protected and covered for its use and 
intentions as is any other part of the body. 

Nature shows no evidence of errors, either in omission 
or commission, which should entail upon us the necessity 
of trying to supplement her work with a bandage which, 
as applied usually after the first month or two, is only a 
farce, and which has nothing to recommend or excuse it 
except traditional superstition. Many times does it be- 
come a great annoyance by its wrinkled bulk at one point, 
or a source of irritation in warm weather where the 
object of dressing is to obtain coolness at all other points ; 
yet the mother religiously replaces this unreasonable appli- 
ance under any and all clothing and in all seasons of the 
year. This should not be so; the abdomen, when healthy, 
requires only the same care as do other parts of the body, 
and the wearing of the bandage becomes in hot weather 
a source of danger and annoyance. 

Beds and Covering. 

The bed which the new-born infant occupies is subject 
to changes corresponding with those occurring in the 
child as it becomes older. The basket or cradle which 
in downy warmth is suited to, and requisite for, the com- 
mencement of life, gradually becomes too warm and re- 
quires a constant reduction of clothing with increasing 
age and. continuous good health. Few there are who do 
not cover the child warmly enough, and if they err, 
surely do it on the side of too much heat. This acts by 



CARE OF THE BABY. 301 

Put the feverish child on a cool bed; avoid the deep 
cot in sickness and in summer. 

producing a red rash on the skin when overdone, and 
also disturbs the child's sleep. Less heat is here needed. 

In different houses the same results are not obtainable 
from the same treatment, as different temperatures are 
maintained generally by other people. Also, the inside 
temperature of houses is variously affected by the sun and 
winds, so that no fixed rules can be laid down about the 
amounts of bed covering or the kinds of beds to use. 
Common sense and ingenuity must be so exercised that 
the beds are not too warm in summer or too cold in winter. 
The form of cradle or cot used in the different seasons 
should be somewhat varied, if convenient, so as to be 
warmer or cooler as desired. This also applies to the 
mattress, which greatly contributes to the heat; and 
where, as in the very young child, a feather pillow is also 
added to the mattress, especial judgment must be exer- 
cised in modifying this part by using hair or wool in the 
warmer seasons. 

Where a change of cradle or cot is not convenient, the 
present one can be modified when of open spindle work 
by lining it for winter and using it open in summer. 
Where the sides are solid woodwork a circulation of air 
can be obtained with its cooling influence in summer, by 
building up the mattress with other clothing till the child 
sleeps largely above the wooden sides. These matters 
are important, as the comfort of the child, who spends 
the most of its time in its cradle or cot, is one of its best 
guarantees against sickness, and a great aid in its suc- 
cessful development. 

As the child becomes older and shows a disposition to 
rebel against excessive covering by kicking it off when 



302 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Change the infant's position frequently, and thus avoid 
deformities. 

asleep or restless, the amount should be reduced. But 
some children, indeed many of them, will always do this, 
regardless of the amount, and it becomes necessary to 
fasten the covers with safety-pins to the mattress on all 
four corners. This allows the child to turn or kick with- 
out becoming uncovered. 

In severe sicknesses, with high temperatures, also in 
injuries, such as fractures, a firm mattress must be used 
for the child to lie on, so that it will not sink down into 
the bedding, but lie upon it. In these cases also no 
springs should be used. Particularly is this needed in 
injuries, to secure smoothness of surface so that positions 
of injured limbs can be maintained even while moving 
the patient to a more comfortable or cooler part of the 
bed. 

Frequently we find children retain the same small 
quarters as they grow older, till feet and head touch oppo- 
site ends of the cot. This is wrong, and should always 
be avoided, giving plenty of room for the child to exer- 
cise by turning over when old enough to do this. Prior 
to this, care should be exercised by the attendant to move 
the child's position regularly, and to turn it over after 
a couple of hours. This is particularly desirable in the 
very young child, as we have frequent deformities of the 
head produced by allowing the infant to lie continually in 
one position. The bones are very soft and easily com- 
pressible into wrong shape by one continuous position. 

A change in the position of the cradle in a room is 
desirable regularly, as this assists in giving the child 
different air, heat, light, and also position. While these 
matters are important during health, they are impera- 



CARE OF THE BABY. 303 

Cotton and linen are good conductors of heat and 
cold. They are not suited for infants or cold -weather. 

tively needed in weak, delicate, and sick children. The 
utmost comfort in all things surrounding, and especially 
in contact with the sick child, is demanded for success in 
handling them. 

Undue nervousness and timidity are frequently shown 
by placing the child in the most uncomfortable part 
of the room to avoid any draft of air. This is commonly 
a part that adults would not seek in that season for them- 
selves, but they think it the most suitable to the baby. 
This is frequently wrong, and in doing it, the child is 
commonly robbed of that coolness and freshness of air 
necessary for its growth when well, or its recovery when 
sick. By all means, make the child as comfortable as 
possible by not overdoing or underdoing those things 
needed for its comfortable rest and consequent success- 
ful development. Do not put the infant to rest in 
cramped quarters at any part of its existence, but partic- 
ularly avoid this during sickness. Give the little one a 
chance to recover. 

Regular Examinations of the Infant by the 
Physician. 

We are all the followers of customs and habits, and 
rarely change from our ancestral practices without some 
educating factor leading us. In the employing or call- 
ing of a physician, it has become the fixed habit to wait till 
the parents or friends see unmistakable sickness in the 
infant before seeking his advice and assistance. This is 
right, and it may also be wrong — wrong of the most seri- 
ous character. It is too frequently the latter. 

Prudence, fear of expense, or the overriding opinions 



304 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The diet, growth, and development of the infant should 
be guided by the physician. 

Proper diet and nutrition of the infant avoid errors 
and dangers in future years. 



of friends (differing in opinion themselves) continually 
keep parents from referring important subjects, such as 
diet, growth, teeth, development, weight, color, and ac- 
tivity, to the physician. The consequence is that he finds 
the resulting errors continually facing him in the acute 
sickness of childhood, months or even years after. How 
often does the intelligent physician see these loom up as 
the great barrier to the child's recovery; how often does 
he see these errors complicate the sickness, increase its 
severity, and delay the recovery; how often does he see 
the child damaged and made a prey to forms of sickness 
which it should entirely escape; how often does he see 
the slight inherited weaknesses made the great burden-of 
future debility ; and how often are the parents humiliated 
when they realize how different the infant might have 
been, if they had only referred these subjects to their 
family physician in infancy. Much better would it have 
been to refer all these matters to the physician before the 
occurrence of errors, and thus secure that guidance and 
protection which every important matter demands. Oh, 
the stubbornness and ignorance of habit! How difficult 
it is for us to change or see things as experience shows 
them. 

Parents should hold their physician responsible for 
the growth and development of their children, not their 
friends, sisters, aunts, mothers, and grandmothers. Are 
we progressing in all things except the proper care and 
development of our children, that we still relegate this 
subject to the habits of the barbaric era, where things are 



CARE OF THE BABY. 305 

No child is safe but the one who rests well at night, 
plays all day, and gains five to eight ounces in weight 
■weekly. 



done without reason, and superstition and empiricism 
reign too often? 

Bear in mind that physicians are progressing in this 
as in all professional subjects, and their souls are har- 
rowed continually by the damaging results of ignorance, 
which their professional eyes are compelled to witness 
daily among their little patients. 

Remember the physician does know how, and will help 
you out of the darkness of infantile troubles if you will 
ask his aid early enough. To secure this requires regu- 
lar examinations of the infant every few weeks, and it 
may be done oftener when any error demands it. 

No child is safe who is not happy and comfortable, 
who does not sleep regularly, who has not a regular appe- 
tite, who does not gain in weight regularly and rapidly, 
who has not regular, ivell-digested stools of proper color 
and odor; and who does not play continually while awake. 

$19.66 for the Best, $216.66 for the Worst. 

Below we present a comparative statement of the cost 
of raising nursed and hand-fed babies as commonly done. 
Ordinary Cost of Twelve Nursed Children, One Year Old. 

Three were nursed seven months. 
Two were nursed eight months. 
Two were nursed nine months. 
Three were nursed ten months. 
One was nursed eleven months. 
One was nursed twelve months. 

Of these three nursed seven months, two nursed eight 
months, and two nursed nine months; four suffered from 

20 



306 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The healthiest babies are the cheapest. Delicate babies 
and sickly culls cost the most money. 



attacks of acute indigestion, fever, and diarrhea, from 
injudicious weaning. These sicknesses lasted from ten 
to fourteen days. 

The total expenses of these twelve children from 
date of weaning averaged as follows: 
Four doctors and medicine ($20.00 each), - $ 80.00 
One hundred and fifty-six weeks home diet, 
from weaning till one year old ($1.00 
per week), ' - - - - 156.00 



$236.00 



Or, $19.66 per baby for the first year. 

Ordinary Cost of Twelve Hand-Fed Children at One 

Year Old. 

Of these: 

One died at three weeks. 

One died at five weeks. 

One died at three months. 

One died at six months. 

Of the remaining eight, six were sick from a month 
to seven weeks, principally during hot weather. 

The expenses are about as follows: 
Four funerals ($30.00 each), - - - $120.00 
Ten doctors' bills ($20.00 each), - - - 200.00 
Ten drug bills ($7.50 each), - - - 75.00 

Four hundred and sixty-two weeks of patent 

foods ($1.50 per week), - - - 693.00 

Forty weeks of trained nurse ($15.00 per week), 600,00 
Patent medicines, - - 45.00 



$1,733.00 
Or, $216.66 per child for first year. 



CARE OF THE BABY. 307 

A cautious, prudent mother feeds her infant only such 
food as is natural or prepared in her own kitchen. 

A sensible mother knows exactly the character of the 
food she gives her baby every day. 



The above estimates are about as near the present 
facts as the writer's thirty-five years' experience among 
sick children can place them. They show that we are 
paying two prices for one-year-old babies: 

For healthy, well developed, nursed babies, $19.66 
each. 

For a mixed lot of eight hand-fed ones — all that lived 
out of the twelve, three fairly developed, three indifferent 
ones, and two ill-shaped, sickly culls — $216.66 each. 

The practical business man will be struck with the 
fact that in raising our children, we reverse all the laws 
of business and common sense applicable to all other 
transactions in life — for the poorest goods and the culls 
toe pay over ten times the amount we pay for the 
choicest stock. 

To some this will seem incredible, but the above are 
the facts, which any experienced children's physi- 
cian will endorse. The physician who will doubt these 
facts should give his attention to children's diseases for 
a few years. He will then be convinced that these fig- 
ures do not fully represent the present lamentable infan- 
tile situation. 

The thoughtful parent will ask, Why is this the present 
condition of civilization ? Why are we not more advanced 
on this vital question ? The answer is plain, — inherited 
ideas, meddling friends, ignorance of the subject, bad 
examples, faith in the unknown food, newspaper educa- 
tion, trusting to the judgment of others, patent prepared 
foods, thoughtless and injudicious changes in foods. 



308 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Manufacturers make foods for their own benefit, not for 
the infant's benefit. 

The cheap home-made foods are superior to the dear- 
est foreign made ones. 



Here, again, is an illustration of charging the foolish 
and sparing the shrewd. Here we find the shrewd citi- 
zen showing his good judgment again. He knows noth- 
ing about raising babies, but he knows a certain physi- 
cian who makes a specialty of this subject. As for a 
surgical difficulty he selects a good surgeon, bo for an 
infantile difficulty he selects a well-informed physician, 
and hands the subject over to him. His business train- 
ing has long since convinced him that experience and 
specialism give the best results in all things. In this 
way he avoids all the mistakes and experiments, and 
secures for his infant the most suitable diet, care, and 
attention from the start. What is the result? At a 
year old he is delighted with a strong, symmetrical, well- 
developed, happy baby — all for the small sum of $19.66. 

The foolish man is guided by the advice of friends 
and patent food makers, and carefully avoids the skillful 
physician. After a year's worry, anxiety, and unceasing 
labor, he views the result — a fairly developed or an 
indifferent baby ; a sickly cull or a spot in the cemetery, 
at a cost of $216.66. 

The thoughtful parents realize that in hand feeding 
their infants they must follow Nature's laws. This means 
that they must use what Nature has supplied and as she 
has supplied it, merely changing the proportions of the 
food to suit the infant's digestive development and neces- 
sities. When they reach this decision, they have also 
decided not to pay the patent food man $1.25 per pound 
for starchy foods when they can make better in their 



CARE OF THE BABY. 309 

A healthy baby is a happy baby. A cross baby is 
an improperly fed one. 



kitchens for five cents a pound. Nor to pay fifty cents 
to a dollar for dried, cheesy milk, which is not half as 
good as they buy daily for six or eight cents a quart 
from a good milkman. 

Having reached this common sense decision, they ask 
some reliable physician, how they can do this? He 
very soon shows these parents that they must feed pure, 
fresh cow's milk properly changed or humanized to suit 
the infant's digestion and necessities, and add well pre- 
pared cereals very gradually. 

Cow's milk is made for a running animal, not for a 
quiescent creature like the baby. It contains too much 
running power for the infant, and this must be taken 
out; in other words, it contains too much cheese. This 
is the proteid, or running power, which is not needed in 
baby food, and when left in gives colic, cramps, and 
green stools. The whole secret of successful baby feed- 
ing is to reduce this part of cow's milk properly, and add 
enough sugar for good development. When this is done 
carefully, from the beginning of the infant's life, or from 
the day of weaning, these sensible parents buy their 
strong, symmetrical, well-developed babies for even less 
than $19.66. All they require to pay for is an occasional 
visit of their physician to inspect their progress, tell them 
when and how to increase the strength of the milk, and 
when to add in the well-boiled starchy or cereal food — - 
oatmeal or rice. 






CHAPTER X. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 



Two Classes of Babies. 

All children make two classes, the healthy and the 
delicate. Bad feeding "will make the healthy ones become 
delicate. 



All children, and even humanity, may be divided into 
two classes — the vigorous, and the delicate. By poor care 
the vigorous become delicate, and by good care the deli- 
cate may become vigorous. Our duties are thus diverse, 
but have always the same object in view — to keep the vig- 
orous healthy, and to secure good health for the delicate. 
Too frequently is the necessity for the proper care of the 
healthy overlooked until damage follows, which a little 
wise counsel at the proper time would have avoided. 

For this the mother or father are not always responsi- 
ble on account of inexperience. Might not their physi- 
cian have assumed the possibility of such mistakes and 
advised them accordingly, so that proper directions in 
dietary would have been sought at the correct time, and 
the parents not left to the kind, yet unkind and deluded, 
traditionary, nonsensical advice of some so-called friend? 
A great deal of this occurs, and, I regret to say it, is 
fostered and encouraged by the indifference or omission 
of many physicians. Too explicit rules and too intelli- 

310 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 311 

The family physician should guard against this by 
directing the correct dietary in proper time. 

Size is only one feature in an infant ; strength, symmetry, 
mental acuteness,teeth, bone activity and joyousness are 
equally important. 



gent thinking cannot be used in securing a continuation 
of that good health with which a healthy child may be 
blessed. This applies all through the nursing period, but 
more particularly in the few months prior to, during, 
and after, weaning has been established. 

Large Size Does Not Always Mean Success. 

Parents will frequently point with pride to the size of a 
child raised on some line of artificial food. While the 
extra large size is certainly better than an under size 
would be, yet to the experienced physician or parent it 
does not speak loudly unless all other features of the 
development are up to the same standard — muscular 
strength, teething, activity, bone growth, and mental 
acumen. Mere avoirdupois counts for little. What we 
require in our young is that successful symmetrical 
development where no part falls behind and thus leaves a 
weak spot unpleasant to the eye and vulnerable to disease. 
Overly large and fat babies are always a subject of sus- 
picion, particularly when hand fed. They are too often 
the future rickety subjects. 

Infantile Facts. 

Nursed children gain more rapidly than hand fed ones 
during the first three months; hand fed gain most rapidly 
during the second three months. 

The average weight of nursed and hand fed is about 
the same at six months. 



312 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Healthy children make light-hearted mothers. Steady- 
growth in the infant, mentally and physically, makes her 
proud. 



All healthy children grow most rapidly during the first 
six months. 

Children average a half pound monthly increase during 
the second year. 

Increase of weight is consistent only with healthy 
organs. 

Loss of weight accompanies all sickness, but is most 
pronounced in diseases of the digestive organs. 

The average weekly gain should be at least four to five 
ounces during the first six months; it is often twice 
that amount. When less than four ounces weekly, some- 
thing is wrong and should at once be corrected. 

Dentition retards progress, but does not check it. 

Children increase about four pounds yearly from the 
second to the fourth year. 

The greatest gains are made during ( the autumn 
months. 

Little progress is made during the hot summer months. 

An infant grows eight inches the first year, and three 
and a half the second. 

The infant always decreases in weight for three days 
after birth before it commences to grow. This is due to 
the emptying out of what accumulates in the bowels before 
birth, and also due to the character of the mother's milk. 

Giving Water to Sick Children. 

There are very few children who may not have an 
abundant supply of cold boiled or filtered water when 
sick. All weaned children crave this, and even many 
nursing ones also will partake freely of it, especially when 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 313 

Always give a sick infant water when it is thirsty. 
Giving milk to quench thirst is often dangerous. 

Do not give water or any food to a child while it is 
vomiting. 



feverish. Formerly, physicians were afraid to indulge 
this desire, and when water was allowed, it was always 
given under restrictions, both in amount and temperature. 
This rule was applied to all patients, both young and old. 
Since the introduction of the fever thermometer, the true 
therapeutic effects of cold are more perfectly understood, 
and cold, even very cold, water is allowed in moderate 
quantities to most sick children. 

Restrictions in Drinking Water. 

There are some conditions where great caution must be 
exercised in allowing this form of drink. These apply 
mostly to deranged conditions of the stomach. Where 
there is any nausea, large drinks will generally aggravate 
and increase it, causing persistent vomiting as long as 
much water is allowed. Here hot drinks must always 
be given, and these in very small quantities also; remem- 
bering always that the true cure for nausea is to rest the 
stomach entirely for a few hours, and then allow only 
what little drink can be borne without causing a return 
of the nausea. Here all drinks, cold or hot, should be 
given in teaspoonful doses only. 

Water Spoils the Taste for Milk. 

Perhaps the strongest and most urgent reason for pro- 
hibiting the use of cold water among sick children is the 
fact that it prevents them from taking the milk, which is 
an absolute necessity to nourish them through their sick- 



314 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Never put more in the glass than you wish the infant to 
drink. This avoids errors and crying. 

ness. The taste for water always takes precedence of, 
and causes a distaste for, the milk. 

While both are allowed, experience always shows that 
it causes great trouble for the nurse, and irritation , broken 
sleep and imperfect nourishment of the child are the 
certain results, because the patient will take water freely 
and refuse the milk. The error lies in the directions. 
Bear in mind that milk is 87 per cent, water, and that 
it is generally unnecessary for the patient that both 
drinks should be allowed. Simply refuse water entirely, 
and in a few hours the child will take the milk without 
any forcing. This will always settle the dispute, and 
give the child both drink and food. 

Where there is great thirst and a consequent danger 
of overloading the stomach with too much milk, water 
must be added to the milk, but never given alone in such 
cases. 

Drinking Glass. 

The drinking glass used should never contain more 
than one drink, and never be over half full. Then the 
patient need not be raised to the erect position before 
drinking. If this rule is not observed, it is impossible 
to control the amount taken, or to avoid spilling it over 
and wetting the clothes around the patient's neck. It is 
desirable to have a glass big enough to hold at least twice 
the amount needed at any one drinking. 

The Over- Vigorous Father. 

Young infants are very immature, and require careful 
protection against violent exercise. The joyous father, in 
the exuberance of his strength and happiness, too often 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 315 

Where water and milk are given to a sick child, the milk 
is always refused. Stop the water and the child will soon 
take the milk, or mix them together if needed. 

The young infant is injured by violent jarring and 
pitching. Its bones and joints are easily damaged. 



expresses it by shaking the infant on his knee cr hoisting 
it in the air. This is wrong. While he is always exces- 
sively careful to avoid apparent injury, yet the immature 
condition of the bones, ligaments, muscles and internal 
organs, as also the head, should admonish against the 
chance of disturbing the nourishment and growth of any 
one part. Should an accident occur during this violent 
demonstration of love, it is sure to be followed by years 
of sorrow. Too many of our dislocated hips and crooked 
backs bear testimony to the dangers of this practice. 

Traveling with Infants. 

The great majority of mothers realize the necessity of 
quietude, also regular and correct feeding with plenty of 
sleep during, the first year of the baby's life. There are 
a few who are over anxious about the hot season and 
determine to go to the seaside or the mountains for the' 
benefit or protection of the little one. Usually this is a 
mistake. There is no place like home for those frail lit- 
tle creatures, especially during the most trying weather 
of the year. 

At home they have all the comforts that can be pro- 
cured, and the greatest protection against errors in food 
and clothing that can be obtained. Also they are safe 
from the changes in the weather when they have the 
privilege of all the rooms in their home. 

In going to the seaside or the mountains many infants 
are lost by the excessive heat in the railway cars, and the 
injurious effect this has on the infant's brain. 



316 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Reactionary Forces— Mother and Child. 



Sickly Mother 
Overworked Mother • 
Irritable Mother • 
Gormandizing Mother 
Indolent Mother - 
Wrongly Fed Mother 
Dissipating Mother 
Medicated Mother 

Poor Milk - 
Cross Baby 
Disturbed Mother 
Poorer Milk 
Crosse r Baby 
Less and Worse Milk 
Sick Baby 
Doctor 



> Poor Milk. 



Cross Baby. 

Disturbed Mother. 

Poorer Milk. 

Crosser Baby. 

Less and Worse Milk. 

Sick Baby. 

- Doctor. 



? 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 317 

Avoid inherited ideas that your judgment cannot in- 
dorse. These damage many infants. Ask the physician's 
opinion of them. 



Inheritances. 

To the experienced physician, two features always pre- 
sent themselves when he is called to prescribe for a 
patient. The first is, of course, the physical ailment, 
which may or may not be severe. The second is the 
mental condition of the patient as directly applied to the 
present sickness. He who skillfully cares for the first 
and unskillfully neglects the second, frequently finds the 
patient seeking other advice. 

In handling children, the same necessities appertain, 
but with the treatment divided between the physical ail- 
ment of the child as the first part, and the mental experi- 
ence or knowledge of the parent or parents on this disease 
as the second part. Where parents are experienced and 
properly educated, this latter feature gives no trouble; but 
where inexperienced and uneducated on this subject, too 
often do we find that traditional ideas or mere inherited 
aphorisms still guide the parental movements. Here the 
physician's experience and knowledge, properly applied 
and intelligently explained, becomes a most important 
part of his work. 

Here is one of the nurse's or mother's opportunities 
to do good or harm, according as she has profited by 
these teachings or has followed traditions herself, and 
thus become the disseminator of ideas, which for origin, 
sense, and reason belong far back in the dark ages where 
ignorance and superstition reigned. Every move and 
expression must, with the sensible mother or nurse, have 
a reason that appeals to common sense, and anything that 
cannot appeal to that must be viewed with suspicion, and 



318 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

the author of it as requiring mental treatment. While 
on this subject, let us look at a few of the traditions or 
inheritances which we commonly meet in the sick-room. 
Many of these contain information of value, which has 
been distorted by abuse or unreasonable use. 

A baby that vomits is always a healthy baby. Not so. 

A cross baby thrives well. Not always. 

Colic lasts three months and does no harm to the 
child. May last six months or kill the infant. 

A bandage is necessary to the child's health and future 
development, and should be worn at all times during 
teething. Useful only till the navel is healed perfectly, 
and to keep the abdomen warm. 

Diarrhea is the natural condition of the teething 
child. A great error which costs thousands of lives 
yearly. 

Lancing the gums endangers its prospects of living. 
Pure superstition. 

Imperfect washing of the new-born child will cause 
disease of the skin later on. Not once in a thousand 
times. 

Children with eruptions on the skin should be kept as 
warm as possible. Should be only comfortable. 

Bathing in cold water hardens the infant. If short 
and properly applied. 

The child is hungry every time it cries, and should 
nurse whenever it will take the breast, regardless of vomit- 
ing, fever, diarrhea, or the doctor's directions. Oh! 
horrors! Such ignorance. 

The child will starve or become weak if not fed in all 
conditions of sickness. Timidity and ignorance. 

Sore heads are healthy and cannot be cured without 
endangering the braki. Disgusting; not true. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 319 

Quality and quantity must always be considered in 
feeding an infant. Omit one and the other is useless. 

It is necessary to take the child out every day regard- 
less of the weather. Only in such weather as is suitable 
to delicate people. 

Size of the baby is all the evidence required to guaran- 
tee success or indorse its feeding. A serious mistake. 

Picking the nose and paleness are an evidence of 
worms. Not so in one case out of fifty. 

The Two Q's. 

Who are they ? They are the twins that accompany the 
infantile era, and may be found in a large proportion of 
the houses where there are children. Particularly are 
they present where there is a hand-fed baby. Rare, 
indeed, is it to find such a house and not find one or 
the other of these two gents, or commonly both of them, 
constant or at least frequent visitors, and meddling 
with the infant's dietary. Strange as it may appear, their 
presence is not commonly recognized by the family unless 
they become unusually intrusive. Even when their pres- 
ence is noticed, often there is difficulty in recognizing 
which of these two Q's is the one present and the one 
causing the infantile disturbance. 

Parents must never forget these two Q's — Quantity 
and Quality. They are twins, and like most twins, are 
with difficulty recognized by all except those familiar 
with their presence and the results they commonly pro- 
duce in the infantile dietary. 

The first gent is nearly always superabundantly pres- 
ent where there is an old nurse, a grandmother, an old 
friend, or an indiscreet neighbor. The second gent 



320 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always talk of pleasant and cheerful things in the 
sick-room. 



always stands at the elbow of the free, glib, thoughtless 
adviser. 

Subjects to be Avoided in the Sick-Room. 

While this subject is not so important in nursing 
children as in caring for adults, yet. there are many 
instances where it is a necessity to avoid all discussions 
of sickness and sick people in the presence of the sick 
child. 

To fully understand this, it is almost necessary that 
those attending or visiting the sick should have been 
seriously or apprehensively sick themselves for a consid- 
erable time. Then they will have smarted bitterly from 
the mistaken kindness or sympathy of the friends who 
carelessly remarked on their paleness or bad appearance, 
or who gravely asked if they were not feeling so well as 
usual. Such remarks on appearances, or questions ex- 
pressing apprehension, with reports of unfavorable cases 
of sickness, are the perfection of cruelty to the sensitive, 
over-anxious, depressed patient, and should never be 
allowed by any one having charge of the sick. It is 
incumbent on nurses that they always prohibit visitors 
from discussing such subjects, at the same time that they 
strictly limit the length of such visits. 

These things must be done regardless of the desires 
of the patients in most cases, remembering that the mind 
is weak as well as the body, and cannot stand long or 
doleful talks, which are depressants; but may be bene- 
fited by short and pleasant talks, which are tonics. 

The nurse or attendant who does not always take 
proper care of the mental condition of the patient, is neg- 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 321 

The physician should educate the parents on all sub- 
jects concerning- their children. Intelligence must control. 

lecting one-half of the duties necessary in the sick-room, 
and is not competent for the work. Such oversight or 
carelessness on the part of a nurse is unpardonable. 

Intelligence at Home. — Physician and Parent. 

Too often is the physician called to attend children in 
extreme danger. This should not be the case so fre- 
quently. Often his examination shows evidences of the 
disease easily seen by any mother with the most meager 
knowledge or experience, if she were only taught to look 
for it. "While it requires skill of the most decided kind 
to recognize many infantile ailments, it requires little to 
see white spots in the throat, or red blotches on the skin, 
and other diseases as easily visible. The physician 
should at once assume the position of educator to the 
mother, and teach her the habit of looking at vital points 
carefully whenever the child droops the least from his 
daily habits of activity, happiness, and hunger. She 
should know the dangerous points and when to take alarm. 
In other words, she should be taught to know a distinct 
and safe reason for the sickness, or call her physician at 
once. 

As it is now, with many, the physician is called on the 
third or fourth day of the child's sickness. Frequently 
he has to recognize a sore throat or a collapsed condi- 
tion which is now fatal, but could easily have been cor- 
rected two days previously. A mother taught to examine 
her child carefully would always avoid this, and would 
never be horrified, as we commonly find them now, when 
we show them a dangerous sore throat of which they had 

no suspicion. The trained mother would know how to 

21 



322 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always examine the throat for white spots in a sick 
child. Infants rarely show these before a year old. 

Be sure the infant's food gives comfort now, and suc- 
cessful development at all times, now and in the future. 



take a spoon and look for herself, and would make it her 
habit to examine carefully every visible part of the com- 
plaining child. Mortality always increases with delay 
in proper treatment. Statistics show fatal results in 
some diseases in about the following proportions where 
treatment is delayed: First day, five per cent. ; second 
day, eight to ten per cent. ; third day, sixteen to twenty 
per cent.; fourth day, thirty to forty per cent. 

Unhealthy Development. 

Here, unfortunately, is a feature which seldom receives 
the attention it demands when arranging the dietary of 
the infant. Parents are only too well pleased in most 
instances to secure a food that makes the cross child 
happy, and the restless, wakeful one a fair but wakeful 
sleeper. While these are, of course, desirable results 
to obtain, they are not by any means all that must be 
secured in order to guarantee the child's future physical 
and, necessarily also, mental development. 

A very dilute food, or a food easily digested but 
wanting in the necessary elements of nutrition, may and 
often does serve a very useful purpose in relieving for a 
short time the irritated condition of the digestive organs 
produced by unsuitable diet or overfeeding. But such 
food cannot be persevered in with safety to the child's 
future; nor can parents always persevere with impunity 
in keeping a child nursing a breast that perpetuates 
the cross condition, much less continue other foods that 
do not increase the child's weight and strength. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 323 

Continued irritation of the stomach -weakens any 
child. It causes three-fourths of the sickness in infants. 



These are some of the weak points where our parents 
have not been well educated, and where very bad results 
have been secured. True it is, that many cross children 
thrive, but do so in spite of their dietary. They could 
do better and be happy also, with a little well-directed 
modification of this same diet. Success and happiness 
might as well run together when possible. It is not of 
the rosy, plump, over-active, vociferous child that we are 
anxious, but it is of the pale-faced, soft-fleshed, puny 
weakling that we would particularly take cognizance. It is 
of these especially that we would say, the food lacks some 
of the necessary elements of nutrition. 

Even with the most vigorous cross child it behooves 
us to be on the alert, Jest the source of his crossness prove 
an easy avenue through which he may become infected 
with dangerous disease germs and be changed from the 
vigorous, cross fighter to the puny, cross weakling. Such 
is only too often the case with long continued irritation 
of the digestive tract. 

Nursing Too Long. 

Many mothers commit the serious error of nursing 
their babies too long. Every mother must remember 
that there is no fixed number of months during which it 
is safe for her to continue nursing. She must remember 
that the result on the child is the only guide she can 
possibly follow and do justice to the child's future. 
Were the scales used regularly each week, and the 
mother's nursing governed by her ability to adequately 
and regularly increase the weight of the child, this 
error of nursing too long would rarely occur. 



324 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The mother's milk is not a safe food after the infant is 
a year old. 

Unfortunately in this matter, inheritance, tradition or 
example has impressed the fact upon mothers that they 
can usually nurse the child a year, eighteen months, or 
more with advantage to the little one. 

Even in the face of reduced weight, paleness, lost 
sleep, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in the baby, many 
a mother fails to see that these changes are due to her 
milk. 

Many mothers will not see it that way, and persist in 
nursing till the child's future development is materially 
damaged and the life in many cases endangered. The 
sure effect of this unsuitable nursing is always detri- 
mental to the little one. Weaning should be undertaken 
at any age, when weight failure in the child with bad 
stools demands it. 

Dwarfs and Small Sized People. 

These members of humanity when not too pronounced 
are often very interesting, but when the shortness of 
stature is below the interesting point, then an opposite 
mental impression is produced upon seeing such deformed 
people. 

Little does the patient mother think how far her angelic 
patience and endurance are contributing to the production 
of members of this small race, when she, month after 
month, toils with the cross, sleepless, vomiting and 
perhaps, also, purging child. Did she for a moment 
realize that her patience possibly meant the child's 
future diminutive size, how soon would she rebel and 
move all human agencies to find the proper outlet from 
this unpleasant and anxious condition. Fortunately we 




Diaper, No. I. 



This Diaper shows the colors and character of stool following a 
catarrhal or inflamed bowel in Infants. The proportions in green and 
yellow colors vary continually, and the amount of slime may increase 
till the stool seems to be nearly all slime and semi-transparent. When 
very slimy blood is often mixed with it, and such cases appear most 
frequently in August or September. 

The green and yellow colors alone, with some slime, commonly 
follow nursing unhealthy or irritating human milk, any time after birth. 
They also appear always after feeding unsuitably prepared cow's milk, 
or too much of it. and are frequently mixed with white curds. 

This Stool should always be regarded as due to Acute Intestinal 
Iudigestion, and demand an immediate reduction of the amount of food, 
and generally also a change in the quality of it. 

Green in the stool is always notice of an error in the food. Slime 
added to the green color indicates a dangerous error. White curds 
show too much proteid, or cheesy element, in the food. The whole 
error in color and slime is commonly due to this excess of proteid. 



/Vi? 




Diaper, No. II. 



The colors in this diaper can only be produced by nursing an abun- 
dance of healthy human milk. The orange tinge is the strongest evi- 
dence of healthy fat in human milk. 

The absence of white curds shows perfect digestion of the proteids, 
and the pasty consistence shows a proper proportion of Fat, Sugar, 
Proteid and Salts in the milk. 

Infants with these stools are always healthy and vigorous. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 325 

Dwarfs always, and small sized people frequently, can 
trace their sizes to imperfect nutrition of the whole body 
or parts of it. 



find few dwarfs, but those few are the direct result of 
imperfect nutrition during infancy. 

When we look at those small members in individual 
families, where the rest of the children are large and 
well-developed men and women, then we see members of 
the human family who can rightly charge their diminu- 
tive stature to the errors in dietary which they endured 
during the first two years of their existence. 

Green, Foul Smelling Stools. 

These are due to errors in the mother and to errors 
and results in the infant. 

In nursing infants, the error is most commonly in the 
mother's milk. Let me here say, that a mother whose 
mind is more active than her body is likely to be a poor 
nurser. Physical exercise in the form of daily duties 
conduce to the secretion of good nourishing milk. The 
most common errors in the mother which cause green 
stools in the infant are: 
Weakness. Sour foods. 

Thin blood. Kaw fruits. 

Poor digestion. Lost sleep. 

Irregular exercise. Fatigue. 

Too much exercise. Mental worry. 

Not enough exercise. Dissipation of all kinds. 

Too much meat or nitroge- Medicines. 

nous diet. Sickness. 

Overeating of all foods. Irregular nursing. 

Cold drinks. 



326 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

In the infant we find green, foul smelling stools due to: 
Immaturity. Too rapid nursing. 

Imperfectly developed di- Exposure to cold or ex- 

gestive glands. cessive heat. 

Unsuitable food. Inheritance. 

Too much food. Syphilis. 

As green, foul stools mean sickness soon, if not now, 
and imperfect development always, it is necessary that 
the cause be recognized and quickly corrected. 

Slimy Stools; Mucus Stools. 

Mucus is the natural lubricant and moistening secre- 
tion of the healthy bowels. Slime is the natural product 
and lubricant of irritated, inflamed, or catarrhal bowels. 

Slime, added to natural yellow, odorless stools, shows 
moderate irritation from strong food or too much food. 
Diluting the food or reducing the amount will gen- 
erally remove this slime in two or three days. 

Slime covering small lumps the size of rice or peas 
requires careful examination. These lumps should be 
crushed with a match to be sure they are stool and not 
curd. 

Slime with curds shows there is too much proteid in the 
milk. This curd should always be crushed to be sure it 
is not well-digested stool. The food should always be 
reduced in proteid in these cases. 

Slime with green colored stools always shows a very 
irritated condition of the bowels. In these cases there 
is generally plenty of curds, when the infant is taking 
a milk food. The irritation is so great that the food 
passes through too rapidly. Here the food must be, 
promptly reduced, and only such amounts of it given as 
show good digestion in the stools. 




Diaper, No. III. 



This pale yellow color shows the stool following successful feeding 
with properly prepared healthy cow's milk. 

Mothers and nurses should note carefully the difference in the 
shades of yellow produced by human and cow's milk. 

The pale yellow is generally stiffer and more constipating than the 
orange yellow, but is otherwise equally healthy when fully digested. 




DiAPKR, No. IV. 



This grayish green diaper shows the change in color usually seen 
from giving bismuth to the infant for digestive or bowel disturbances. 
This color will vary from this light shade to the darkest green, accord- 
ing to the increased amount of bismuth given. Mothers and nurses 
should always know this, and ask the Physician whether the color is 
due to the medicine or the disease. 

Bismuth usually causes very foul stools, and favorable progress can 
only be recognized by the stiffer consistence and better formation of 
them, while under this treatment. When the stools lose their watery 
character they become less frequent and recovery is near. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 327 

Green, foul smelling, or slimy stools mean serious sick- 
ness soon. A change or reduction of food is demanded. 

Cross boy babies often need circumcision before they 
can become happy and thrifty. 



In the milder forms of slimy or mucus stools, a cure is 
generally effected by correcting the dietary; but in the 
severer forms, the irritated bowel also requires some medic- 
inal assistance to relieve the colic, heal the bowel, and 
make the infant comfortable and able to sleep its full 
share. For this purpose, Kemedy No. 39 should be 
used regularly till the stools become thick and free from 
slime. They will always be dark while taking this 
medicine. 

The Cross, Uneasy Boy Baby. 

Where no explanation of this baby's unhappy and 
uncomfortable condition is found in the stools, attention 
should always be turned strongly to the urinary secretion 
and the genital organs. 

The color and odor of the urine should receive careful 
attention to see that no reddish or yellow coloration of 
the diapers is present, and that strong odors are absent. 
Strict watching of the frequency of the urinating should 
be observed, as undue frequency points to an irritated 
condition of the urinary channels. Unhealthy urine 
causes undue frequency in voiding it. 

Most commonly the cause of too frequent urination 
and a general nervous, cross habit in a boy baby is found 
in a narrow and long foreskin, which has become sore 
and irritated from the urine lying in it. Any effort at 
retracting this foreskin over the glans shows the skin 
red and tender, with a very small opening in it, little 
more than the small end of a lead pencil. 



328 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

This tender skin is irritated and keeps up a constant 
desire to urinate. The only cure for these cases is to 
circumcise the infant at once. This generally gives 
prompt relief and a happy baby. 

Infantile Literature (Purely Medical). 

If the present young parents of America could witness 
the thousands of pages written yearly, particularly dur- 
ing the last ten years, on infants and their diseases, they 
would have a much larger conception of the importance 
of this subject. Then we would see less of this resting 
on ancestral or traditional practices as a guide in this 
most important matter in every family circle. 

Could they but see the patient, plodding labor, daily and 
yearly, given gratuitously by many of the brightest and 
most experienced minds in the medical profession .to 
those institutions caring only for well and sick children, 
they would obtain another view of the importance of 
caring properly for those little ones. 

Could they read regularly the weekly and monthly 
medical periodicals treating of infantile subjects alone, 
they would have opportunity to gather at least part of 
the information elicited by the bright, clear writing and 
sharp, concise medical society discussions which they 
contain, and thus their information and opportunities 
would be broadened. Would that these conditions were 
so! Then would we see increased numbers of bright, 
clear-headed, thoroughly educated, independent thinking, 
logical, and experienced mothers intelligently managing 
the many infantile changes of their children in the same 
systematic, smooth, and successful manner that they now 
adopt in all other matters pertaining to their household 
and family. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 329 

Good writing- cannot be done without new material. 
Thousands of pages are produced yearly on infantile 
subjects by the best of physicians. 

The mother should understand the sickness as the 
physician does. Only in this way can they work 
together. 



Instead of such mothers being numbered as now by 
the hundreds, they would rise up before us in the hun- 
dreds of thousands. Think what a force they would 
exert on the shaping of future humanity; think what a 
reduction there would be in the making of human culls 
by bad management; and then, just think for a moment 
how soon, with these scales of ignorance lifted from 
female eyes, would we see the production of these human 
culls almost avoided, the accidents and mishaps of future 
maternity removed, and our daughters able to look for- 
ward to future wedlock without the fears which now 
justly confront many. 

Mothers Should Understand the Sickness. 

Fortunately, with a higher and more intelligent edu- 
cation, parents, are, here and there, dropping away from 
the traditional practice of leaving all to the doctor. His 
word alone, without intelligent explanation, is no longer 
sufficient to command obedience and inspire confidence 
in trying cases. The intelligent mother expects and is 
entitled to the fullest explanation of her child's sickness 
and requisites for successful treatment. Then she 
becomes an interested thinker in the treatment as well as 
the devoted mother in the nursing. How much better 
can the work thus be accomplished, and how much 
greater satisfaction and success will accompany and fol- 
low the efforts of the thoroughly scientific, well educated 



330 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The true physician educates the mother above the 
thoughtless opinions given of her sick infant. 



and painstaking physician, when backed up and assisted 
by such an intelligent and caretaking mother. 

Only physicians who avail themselves of these resour- 
ces, and are careful to educate the mother on all the val- 
uable nursing points in the sickness, enjoy the pleasur- 
able successes which follow this community of labor. 
The treating of sick children is rich in these opportunities, 
and when well cultivated with intelligent directions, 
welds securely the friendship of parents for the physician, 
whose interest in the sick child is second only to that of 
the parents themselves. Mothers under such tuition sel- 
dom, if ever, make the serious mistake of overlooking an 
important change in the child's progress, nor do they 
ignorantly brand as harmless the commencing symptoms 
of some future severe sickness. Such mothers soon learn 
the important features in any class of sickness, and in- 
telligently form opinions of the necessity for treatment 
in such cases at all future times. 

Where this educational care of a mother is taken, 
she perpetuates her knowledge in her own family, and 
often also among other families, thereby disseminating 
reliable and useful information. Only in this way can 
the community be educated up to the necessities of an 
intelligent understanding of sickness. 

Weights of Infants. 

The male infant is usually heavier than the female at 
birth. Males average from seven and a quarter pounds 
to seven and three-quarter pounds. Females average 
from seven pounds to seven and a quarter pounds. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 



331 



Changes in weight give the earliest notice of the 
changes in the child. 



The vitality of the infant is usually in proportion to 
the weight. While some small infants thrive unusually 
well, we know by experience that this is due more to the 







WEIGHT CHART. 




MONTH OF AGE. 


-J 


1 


2 3 4 


5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 










a — 
















23 
















22 






























. 








y)y 








^x ■ 


19 






^ 








_• "Q_ 


18 — 






.J*"" 








««-" "" 








.»[— 1 "" 








^*--' 








^ r«" 








^^ 








*'* 


n 












y, ^ 




„ 




y 








~jr 




















































9 '' 


























~i~ : 








z_ 


















































. 


: __ ±d 



Figure 42. Weight Chart. The curved line shows a healthy normal increase 
in weight during the first year. 

good quality and quantity of the mother's milk than to 
any other factor. 

The infant loses weight while the mother's milk con- 
tains colostrum — usually during the first three or four 
days. 

The average gain in weight is two- thirds of an ounce 



332 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"Where a child is not "weighed regularly, the exact 
character of the stools will be the best and earliest 
guide in feeding it. 



daily during the first five months, and one-third to two- 
thirds of an ounce daily from the fifth to the twelfth month. 

Usually the infant's weight is doubled at five months 
and trebled at fifteen months. 

The weight at one year is doubled at seven years, and 
again doubled at fourteen years. 

Uniform increase in weight is checked by changes of 
food, teething, and sickness. 

Regular weekly weighings should be made and recorded 
on the weight chart (Figure 42) for future reference. 

All changes in diet and the dates thereof should be 
recorded as they occur, with their effects on the infant. 

All increases in diet should be regularly recorded, and 
an interval of two days should intervene between all 
changes in quality or amount of the infant's food. 

Two days are requisite to show the effects of any 
change in the .dietary. 

After two days' trial of any change in quality of food 
or amount thereof, if the stools remain yellow, pasty, and 
of the proper odor, it is safe to make another addition if 
needed. 

If the stools show green, slime, foul odor, or a watery 
character, the food should at once be lessened or changed 
back to the point where healthy stools were obtained. 

All these dietetic rules must be observed in order to 
secure the weight changes above enumerated. 

Nausea and vomiting following a change of food show 
the change to be an error. 

Restlessness, fever, and frequent waking should be read 
the same way. 



FACTS CONCERNING THE BABY. 333 

An infant is as strong as its digestive glands are 
healthy. Do not damage them when it is born. 



Do Not Spoil the Baby's Stomach. 

If there is anything more to be avoided than another 
in caring for an infant, it is the injured stomach. Noth- 
ing gives such labor and toil to the mother, such worry 
and anxiety to the physician, and such a harvest to the 
undertaker as the injured or damaged stomach of the 
infant; and yet our civilization continually strives to 
establish this result on a large percentage of our new- 
born infants before they are a day old. 

How carelessly is the question asked, "What will I feed 
the baby?'' as soon as it is dressed, or when at any time 
the mother has not enough for it. Oh, horrors! Just lis- 
ten to the variety of answers from almost as many as hear 
the question. Now! Just now should the mother know, 
and answer promptly the correct thing. But unfortu- 
nately too often she does not, and some most unsuitable 
food is given which starts immediately the first indigestion 
or gastritis. From this the infant recovers with its life; 
and often also with its enemy — a permanently enfeebled 
stomach. From the latter it will never perfectly recover 
during infancy, doubtful if it will during youth, or per- 
haps even during manhood. There is nothing so handi- 
caps a physician in his treating a sick infant as a 
damaged stomach. There is nothing so expensive to a 
parent as a weak stomach in an infant. It is a veritable 
harvest for the skillful physician as he manages generally 
to keep the infant alive when his advice is carefully fol- 
lowed; but with what a result! A poor, weak, delicate^ 
nervous and irritable child, waiting for the first storm of 
whooping cough, scarlet fever, measles, or diphtheria to 
blow it away. 



334 ' FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

After two years old, the child suffers little from stom- 
ach and bowel disturbance. 



Never give the first careless unsuitable meal to the 
infant. Many physicians' bills, and often the undertaker's 
bill also, are the price of so doing. 

The only safe artificial food for the newly-born infant 
is weak sugar water till the mother's milk flows abund- 
antly. And the only addition which is safe when the 
mother's milk is delayed unduly long is one teaspoonful 
of cream to every ten to fifteen of the sugar water. Three 
to six teaspoonfuls are enough for one meal; more is 
injurious. 

Influence of Age on Sickness. 

Age materially alters the character of infantile sickness. 
After two years there is less bowel and stomach trouble. 
During the first dentition, or till the infant has reached 
perfect masticating power, there is a gradual evolution in 
all the digestive organs and secretions tributary thereto. 
They seem to have reached a maturity at that time which 
gives a permanency to the amount and character of the 
work they can do. From this time onward the child's 
digestive power only increases as he grows and demands 
more food. It has reached the power to digest all nitroge- 
nous and starchy foods, and the limit is principally in 
the amount allowable at each meal. 

After two years the sicknesses of childhood are similar 
to those of adult life, with the addition of those epidemics 
from which it has not suffered before. 



CHAPTER XI. 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 



Selecting the Nursery. 

When possible, the nursery should be located on an 
upper floor with a southern or western exposure, where 
plenty of fresh air can always be secured, where the 
room can be regularly aired without exposing the child 
to drafts, and where there is abundance of sunshine. 
The nursery requires a good-sized room, or better still, 
two rooms opening into each other, both of fair size. 
Where there is only one room, the use of the hall tribu- 
tary to it should be secured. Remember that the child 
and the nurse occupy it all the time, and there 
are also many others frequently coming in to see the 
little one. All these demand a full and regular supply 
of fresh, warm air from the adjoining hall or room, as the 
window can only be used for that purpose in the finest of 
weather. A room with an open grate is much to be pre- 
ferred, as this invariably secures ventilation, whether a 
fire is used or not. 

The furniture of the nursery should be plain wood or 
wicker, the cots iron or brass, and rugs should cover 
enough of the floor to secure quietness. Only the 
amount of furniture really needed should be allowed. 
All upholstered goods should be entirely excluded. By 

335 



336 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

this means the customary cleaning of the room and its 
contents can easily be accomplished regularly or after 
any sickness, and there will be little danger from any 
contagious influences lingering in it. 

There are certain appliances beyond the regular furni- 
ture always requisite for a fully -equipped nursery, where 
an infant will be the principal occupant for a year at least. 
These are: 

1. Some way of making a quick fire. 

2. A pair of scales (Figure 41). 

3. A weight chart (Figure 42). 

4. Small, warm, wool blanket for weighing the baby 
in. 

5. A thermometer. 

6. A small bath tin and accessories for bathing. 
Beyond these, there are many things requisite for the 

clothing of the infant which each mother provides accord- 
ing to her taste. 

A quick fire is often requisite in sickness to prepare 
drinks or warm outside applications, besides giving a 
means of controlling the general temperature of the 
nursery. 

A scale that will give a clear idea of the child's weekly 
progress is an absolute necessity in the nursery. There 
is no means of knowing just where the infant is each 
week except by using the scales. Often this will give 
warning of imperfect progress when the eye sees no 
evidence of it, and thus very often, weeks of imperfect 
growth and approaching rickets can be avoided. 

The weight chart (Figure 42) is a necessary record of the 
work in the nursery. By its use the exact weekly prog- 
ress is recorded, and all doubts and disputes on this 
point are avoided. When the mother finds her child's 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 337 

Follow these figures for success in feeding. 
Cream, 4 per cent, j 

Sugar, 7 per cent, y This is human and kindness itself. 
Proteid, 1 % per cent, j 

Cream, 4 per cent. 1 Components of cow's milk. This 

Sugar, 4 per cent, y is brutal for a young infant, but 

Proteid, 4 per cent, j good for a calf. 



progress varying from a normal healthy increase on the 
chart, she is forcibly reminded of an error somewhere, and 
has an unmistakable reason for an investigation into the 
feeding of the baby. 

A small, warm blanket suitable in size for holding the 
baby during weighing is another necessity. This pro- 
cedure should always occur before or after the morning 
bath and before dressing the infant. There must be no 
change in the blanket used, the hour of weighing, or the 
condition of the baby — always naked. Only in this way 
will weighing be reliable. 

No nursery should be without a thermometer. It shows 
the temperature of the room, which should always be from 
70 to 72 degrees. Where no thermometer is present, the 
temperature often creeps up to 75 and 80 degrees. This 
is too warm for both child and nurse. A bath thermom- 
eter (Figure 9) should also be used for testing the 
water in the bath. A hand test is very unreliable. 
The bath should not be lower than the skin temper- 
ature, 94: to 96 degrees, nor much higher than the blood 
temperature, 99 to 100 degrees. The temperature of 
the infant is one-half to one degree higher than that of 
an adult. 

Where cooling baths are needed in feverish conditions, 
the thermometer is the only reliable guide. In these 
baths, the water should be from 85 to 95 degrees. 
_ A small bath tin that can be moved near the fire is 

mi 



338 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Heat is second only to food in the proper care of an 
infant. 

Every variation in the chart gain is a signal, warning 
the mother of danger. 



really a necessity. The bath must always be followed by 
a healthy natural color of the skin to be successful and 
not injurious. Where the atmosphere is too cool, there 
is danger of chilling the young infant while nude. Noth- 
ing is more dangerous to these little ones than cold sur- 
roundings. If there is any time when a high temper- 
ature is needed in a room, it is while bathing a young 
infant. Do not forget that prior to birth it was sur- 
rounded by a 98-J degree temperature. The younger the 
infant, the hotter the temperature should be. 
Infantile Weights. 

A healthy nursing infant gains at least two-thirds of 
an ounce per day, or four to six ounces weekly; less than 
this shows sickness. The weighing should be done 
weekly, and marked on the chart (Figure 42). Girls gain 
less than boys. Birth weight is doubled at five months 
and trebled at fifteen months. 

Hand-fed children are often slow in starting to gain 
weight, but the food should not be changed as long as 
the stools are correct in color, odor, and consistence. Fre- 
quently when they commence to grow they gain very rap- 
idly, and thus recover for lost time in the beginning. 

Mother's Judgment. 

Does a mother know when her baby is sick ? Certainly ; 
no person knows so well or surely that the baby is sick, 
and nobody knows so well when the baby is better or worse 
during a sickness as the mother. She detects all the 
changes as rapidly as they appear and before others can 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 339 

The motherly instinct always recognizes unfavorable 
changes in the infant. 



see them. Often she cannot explain the exact reason why 
she knows the change has occurred, but she knows it has 
occurred; and the physician or nurse who ignores her 
opinion as to the child's condition will most frequently 
make a mistake, to be afterward regretted. 

Why does the mother so correctly recognize the child's 
condition? Because she is with it from its birth, and 
all her senses are educated to the natural condition of 
health in the little one. Any variation from this con- 
dition gives the mother a new sensation, either of sound, 
sight, feeling, or smell. The farther these sensations 
diverge from the natural ones, just so much sicker is the 
child in the mother's judgment, as it is likewise in the 
judgment of the experienced nurse or physician. 

Physician's Visit. 

The more convenient and comfortable the clothing 
and light are arranged, the more successful certainly will 
be the examination of the physician, and consequently 
the more satisfactory the directions and details for treat- 
ment for the next twelve to twenty-four hours. Now is 
the time to present every new or aggravated detail and 
feature since the last visit of the physician. In this 
connection nothing must be omitted, but everything 
brought forward in an unmistakable manner, and per- 
sisted in till he disposes of it. This is necessary to pre- 
vent omissions, and in order that they do not recur, 
notes should be made of all important matters as they 
occur during the intervals of his visits. This habit, if 
carried out, greatly increases the interest taken in the 
patient by all, and should always secure the best results. 



340 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always teach the infant to regard the physician as 
her best friend. 

Never omit reporting the condition of the infant's 
nutrition, as proven by the stools. Yellow color is needed 
for success always. 

Do not allow your anxiety about the sickness to 
obscure your judgment about the infant. 



It improves the nurse or mother who does it, and estab- 
lishes the confidence of all in her industry, skill, and 
carefulness. No ambiguity or confusion must exist as to 
directions for the next day's treatment. A clear and 
thorough understanding of all details and directions in 
treatment must be secured in order that she can make the 
work a success. She should be sure to ask all the ques- 
tions she thinks necessary to clearly understand the 
physician's meaning and directions. 

Frequently children are nervous about strangers, and 
consequently fearful and timid when the physician calls, 
so that it is with difficulty he can make an examination. 
Under this strain the work is difficult and mistakes 
are more likely to be made. Frequently it will be neces- 
sary at first to take the child on the mother's lap to give 
it confidence till it becomes accustomed to the presence 
of a stranger and thus acts naturally. When it becomes 
easy and familiar it can, if necessary, be laid on the bed. 
With timid children, a little talk properly used will often 
interest the child in the coming of the physician and 
make the visit one of pleasure to all parties. The old 
days, where a foolish dread of the physician was in- 
stilled into the little ones, is happily passing away. While 
this relic of barbarism has not entirely died out, its pres- 
ence is now seldom witnessed. The physician is com- 
pelled to do enough unpleasant things to the little one 
without having them exaggerated in the child's mind. 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. ' 341 

General Watchfulness. 

Physicians are frequently called to attend sick chil- 
dren too late in the sickness to be able to do ample justice 
to the disease. While this difficulty will always continue 
to a large extent, it behooves the nurse or mother to be 
always on the alert to recognize the earliest symptoms of 
a sickness, or any complication that may arise during a 
sickness. Errors are frequently made by this omission, 
and serious damage done befpre the physician is informed 
of the change. Particularly should they be on the alert 
for anything that interferes with the quiet sleep, com- 
fortable swallowing, easy breathing, regular stool, or 
natural movements of the little one. 

Again the best judgment must be shown in nursing 
any sickness, that the nurse does not lose sight or watch- 
fulness of the infant himself. There is a possibility that 
in resting an irritated throat or stomach she starve the 
patient; that in securing the necessary sleep she overlook 
a foul breath ; that in her attention to disturbed bowels 
she overlook the loss of sleep; that in her efforts to 
control the temperature she does not notice the coldness 
of the extremities; and hosts of other complications 
which are continually arising. These the intelligent, 
industrious nurse or mother must ever watch most care- 
fully and report to the physician, never allowing any 
feature to pass till it has received his careful thought and 
attention. 

All these matters arising in the intervals between his 
visits should be carefully noted down, so there can be no 
possibility of forgetting them when he next calls. Here 
it is important that any and all things which attract her 
attention should be referred to him, and never passed 
over as of no importance. 



342 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Good nursing- is often more important than good 
medicinal treatment. 

The careful, anxious, skillful physician never considers 
any matter she refers to him as unnecessary, but on the 
contrary, is pleased to know that she is watchful and 
does not assume that new symptoms or changes are ever 
unimportant. Nothing so annoys a physician as to find 
the mother or nurse assume that she knows what is or is 
not important, and act accordingly. 

Cot vs. Lap Nursing. 

Some contend that cot nursing is preferable to lap 
nursing, while others contend the opposite. The truth, 
as usual, lies in the happy medium. 

The sleeping child is decidedly best in the cot. Here 
it is not disturbed by the motions or extra heat of the 
nurse, and has the full benefit of its sleeping hours. 

The waking babe requires the handling of the nurse 
for development. In this way, it obtains that exercise 
and freedom of motion requisite for developing all its 
muscles, bones, nerves, and skin. In developing these 
parts it secures a strong heart and a vigorous circulation, 
absolute requisites for a healthy growing baby. 

In thus mixing the style of nursing we also avoid 
deformities of bones that commonly occur when too 
much cot nursing is allowed. A nurse who tries to keep 
a healthy baby in the cot while awake is not doing her 
duty to the little one. 

In hot weather some cool device, such as a hammock 
or light wicker chair, should be used to avoid extra heat. 
In these, the nurse can play with the infant. The ham- 
mock or cool, open-topped cot with spindle sides, should 
always be used with sick children in hot weather. With 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 343 

Give the infant plenty of room to turn and move in 
sickness. Never keep it in a small room or a hot one, 
nor buried in feathers. 

these a free circulation of air, continually cooling the 
feverish infant, adds materially to its recovery. There 
should be only sufficient nursing on the lap to rest the 
sick infant by changing positions, or to give exercise to 
the healthy infant. 

Rest. 

Rest to the irritated organ or part of the body is 
the groundwork of all skillful treatment. A proper 
application of this thought to a sick child demands 
a perfect knowledge of the functions of the differ- 
ent anatomical structures that are irritated, and also 
the most probable cause of the disturbance. While abso- 
lute rest cannot be obtained for organs in which continu- 
ous labor, to at least a moderate degree, is essential to the 
life of the patient, yet a very much lessened amount of 
duty to any and every organ can be obtained by a judi- 
cious attention to its functions. 

The stomach of the feverish child should have rest by 
lessening the food placed in it, and also by selecting the 
food most easily digested. The same treatment is appli- 
cable to the bowels and liver. The kidneys are rested by 
lessening and carefully selecting the drinks allowable. 
As the heart finds increased duty with every effort, no 
matter how small, and also with every increase of tem- 
perature and changeful emotion, it becomes necessary for 
rest, that absolute quietness of the patient and surround- 
ings be demanded; also that all febrile irritations be 
subdued as rapidly as possible by baths or sponging. 
Almost any factor disturbing the heart causes a like 



344 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

"Without rest the sick child cannot improve. Rest 
means plenty comfortable refreshing" sleep. 

Variations in the amount of sleep indicate the severity 
of the sickness. 



increase of work in the lungs; and disturbances in the 
lungs react on the heart, increasing its duties. 

The same intelligent, thoughtful application must be 
made to each and every part of the body to secure good 
results — less light, reading, and seeing to the tender eye; 
less noise and talking to the painful ear; less thought 
and more sleep to the aching head; less motion and play 
to the strained limb; less friction and washing to the 
chafed or injured skin; less solid food and more drink to 
the tender mouth or throat. 

There are no features so essential in properly caring 
for the sick as a due observance and a careful and 
thoughtful application of the idea contained in these 
four letters, E — E — S — T. With them you can do won- 
ders; without them you can do very little in the sick- 
room. 

Sleep. 

Frequently, in considering other subjects and treat- 
ment, it has been necessary to refer to Sleep; but the 
great importance of this subject in infantile sicknesses 
demands a separate consideration of this important con- 
dition. 

The longer a physician practices medicine, the more 
does he appreciate the important and close relationship 
existing between the amount of sleep the sick infant 
enjoys and the danger resulting from its sickness. 

As a rule in most acute maladies, an infant's sickness 
becomes dangerous in direct proportion with the amount 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 345 

"When in doubt, remember the twins— QUANTITY and 
QUALITY. Which of them is disturbing- the child? 

of sleep it loses. "Where sleep is lost at night but se- 
cured in daytime, this removes the danger. 

In advanced sicknesses with head complications, the 
danger is usually in proportion with the excess of sleep, 
and stupidity or drowsiness present. 

A variation in either direction from the normal con- 
dition should always cause alarm, and be a just reason 
for calling in the physician. 

Common Sense Treatment. 

The giving of remedies to sick people is the rock 
on which physicians divide into the so-called pathies. 
Were it not for diversity of opinions at this point, all 
physicians would be giving the same remedies and treat- 
ment to their patients. A difference is always the fruit 
of thought. Without a difference, then, could we have no 
progress, no contention, no study, no incentive to effort; 
all would be alike, a lamentable condition, where one is as 
good as another. As thought produces different results, 
little wonder is it that we have many theories, honest or 
dishonest, as to the proper treatment of the sick. 

If we knew "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth" of each sick person, there would be no room 
among honest physicians for pathies or a difference in 
treatment. The correct thing to do would be so apparent 
that mistakes need never occur, and reflections would be 
unknown. 

On one feature at least we must all agree when handling 
or caring for little children. "No matter what we do for 
the sickness, be sure we take good care of the child." 

This means, that we must always conserve all the forces 



346 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Cheese is made from proteid (casein). Excess of cheese 
sickens the father. Excess of proteid sickens the infant. 



of the little one, continually adding to its wholeness with 
our best experience and most careful thought. 

To do this successfully is the goal of the anxious physi- 
cian's thought. 

When the infant is sick, the mother sends for her phy- 
sician. For what purpose? To show her what is wrong, 
and how to correct that wrong. In other words, the 
mother is afraid of losing her little one; afraid that the 
sickness may become serious, and the stream of life flow 
out of its cherished and blessed form. 

"Flow out!" That is a good idea; that expresses our 
thoughts exactly. In the "flowing out''' there is decrease 
of the wholeness; there is constantly less of the child. 
Our duty is to stop that flowing, to stop that dangerous 
current. If so, we must use such means as do not add to 
the flowing, but such as add to the child and also stop the 
current outward, with the mildest yet most efficient means 
in the shortest time possible. 

Children die in various ways; in other words, life flows 
out through many currents or streams. Let us look at 
some of them and see their various courses. 

A glance upward shows us in the distance the cerebral 
current in the great rapids of continual lost sleep, delirium, 
or convulsions, or in the overwhelming sea of coma or 
insensibility. Here sweet rest is rightly sought by cool- 
ing and bathing till calm sleep averts this dangerous 
current. 

A glance cast lower in the little form brings vividly into 
view the dangerous current of strangulation. Here is 
one of the most turbulent and dangerous streams on which 
the life of the little one can float. From time imme- 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 347 

An infant is as strong- as its digestive glands are 
healthy. 

Infants grow in proportion as their mothers are sensi- 
ble on infantile subjects. 



morial up to 1896, the large majority of these lives were 
strangled in the diphtheritic sea of blood poisoning. Even 
to this day. only on the first or second day can the watch- 
ful eye of the mother, aided by the prompt assistance of 
her physician, see clearly to float the precious life safely 
in the antitoxin boat. A day or two's delay beyond this 
time renders even this means of rescue unsafe. 

As our eyes look lower over the little form, we see 
its life tossed on the current of rapid breathing, and 
we know that here the flow is ever and ever more rapid 
till the sea of suffocation is reached. Here we must trim 
our sails most carefully, using the foresail of fresh air, 
the topsail of quietude, and the mainsail of coolness, 
filling in with jibsails of nourishment, sleep, and spong- 
ing till we cautiously reach the calm sea of recovery. 

As our eyes look anxiously downward over the little 
form, we behold the digestive current much troubled 
and ever and always nearing the deep and very fatal 
diarrheal torrent. Here we know well that unless the 
digestive load is lessened and made very light, this 
nourishing boat will surely be lost in the diarrheal sea. 

Having stopped this exit of life, we are made more 
anxious when we see the mild alvine stream made into 
turbulent rapids, tumbling over masses of undigested 
drift, fermenting waste, and rotting residue, which will 
surely swamp our frail craft with its precious burden of 
life unless we hastily sweep the intestinal passage clean, 
and check fresh rotting incumbrances from above. 

But the anxious eye is soon disturbed when it observes 



348 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Be sure you feed all the elements of milk in their 
proper proportion. Sugar is more than half of the food 
in human milk. 

this precious craft likely to be stranded on some torrid 
stream, whose waters are being rapidly absorbed by the 
hot surrounding rays. Well do we know that soon this 
intense fever heat will wilt all within its reach unless 
copious, frequent cooling waters bathe the body and float 
the frail craft into a permanently cooler condition. 

Have we reached a haven of safety? Unfortunately, 
no! We have passed many dangerous currents, but here, 
alas ! our craft has wandered into a urinary current loaded 
with noxious and waste deposits, blocking the way and 
intensely dangerous to all voyageurs on its surface. Well 
do we realize the importance of haste that we may reach a 
larger current giving these poisons an exit, and our 
precious craft an escape through a pure, clear urinary 
stream. 

And now the anxious mother asks, Are we over the 
worst dangers ? We hope so, but must not forget that on 
any of these dangerous streams we are likely to run on 
great fails where the fear of failure through deficient 
power reminds us of the heart itself. We must steadily 
nourish and stimulate this organ against them. 

Beyond these most dangerous and turbulent streams 
which are so frequently fatal to the little life, there are" 
many smaller currents which ordinarily are comparatively 
safe under a good experienced hand, but which soon 
become as dangerous as the worst when the frail life 
craft is carelessly handled or run without a skillful pilot, 
who knows well the dangerous currents, eddies, and rocks 
threatening destruction in all these smaller ailments. 

But to return from this digression on life currents. 
The mother wants intelligent directions, and this means 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 349 

The amount of green in the stool below indicates the 
amount of error in the stomach above. 



directions founded on a seeable reason. Nursing direc- 
tions without medication are preferable. Nursing direc- 
tions and little medication are next most desirable, but 
full nursing directions, with requisite medication, must 
always be used where needed. 

By a careful study of the principles expressed under 
the head of Elimination, any intelligent mother can see 
what is required in the beginning of most sicknesses in 
children. 

Elimination. 

In the treatment and care of young infants particularly, 
the mother or nurse always requires to remember that 
perfect elimination is absolutely essential to the mainte- 
nance of good health; also, that in the vast majority of 
their sicknesses a proper attention to this function is the 
highway to their rapid recovery. 

What is Elimination? It means that all the excreting 
organs of the body — those steadily occupied in cleansing 
it every hour during life — are kept continually at work, 
and that in emergencies, such as sickness, they be given 
proper assistance or stimulation to rapidly perform such 
extra duties as the sickness imposes. 

The organs whose continual duty it is to eliminate or 
purge from the body the poisonous and waste products 
formed, from food, waste tissues and disease, are the 
bowels, kidneys, skin, and lungs. 

Promptness should always be the rule in stimulating 
these organs to extra effort, as soon as any sickness com- 
mences. In the great majority of ailments, a free action 
from the bowels, a profuse perspiration, or a free flow of 



350 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. ' 

urine will materially lessen the acute symptoms of the 
attack or entirely remove it. The bowels are best stimu- 
lated by castor oil, calomel, citrate of magnesia, or 
syrup of rhubarb. Both bowels and kidneys are well 
stimulated by Remedy No. 40. Free bathing with 
tepid water, or water cooler than the patient, accompa- 
nied by vigorous rubbing, will soon put the skin into a 
copious perspiration, if well covered afterward. As soon 
as free perspiration is well established, the bad odors on 
the breath show that the lungs are also striving to un- 
load the foulness from the body. After this treatment is 
thoroughly applied and the infant still continues sick, 
the physician should be called in. 

These home efforts at elimination are perfectly safe 
and reliable in the beginning of all infantile sicknesses, 
even to measles or scarlet fever. 

Continual Dosing. 

There is nothing more reprehensible in caring for 
children than the habit of dosing for every real or 
imaginary ailment or cry of these little ones. This dosing 
is usually something to move the bowels or something to 
make it sleep. If mothers would guide their actions in 
this matter by a careful study of the infant's stools, they 
would seldom do much harm, and certainly would have 
some foundation from which to correctly reason. With 
this guide they would seldom see any cause for dosing to 
make the child sleep. They would soon see from their 
unhealthy character that there was some disturbing agent 
present which prevented sleep. Either the quantity or 
quality of the food is the usual cause of irritation and 
wakefulness. 

Dosing as practiced is merely covering up a bad result, 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 351 

Improper feeding" causes more sickness and disease 
than any other factor or agency in infantile life. 

An infant is not improved by laxatives or sleeping 
medicines. These should never be given unless in emer- 
gency; they damage an infant when repeated. 



is persistently refusing to see the cause of the trouble, 
and is acknowledging ignorance of the true factor in 
infantile disturbance. 

No class of children presents such obstinate disturb- 
ances to the physician as those that are being continually 
dosed. Usually they are cross and constipated, or suffer 
from a loose condition of the bowels, alternating with the 
constipated. Their digestive secretions have been so dis- 
turbed that their nutrition is very much impaired. They 
have not the firm flesh and blooming color of the vigor- 
ous, healthy child, and the continual dosing has so per- 
sistently held their digestion disturbed that they never 
have time to improve in flesh or appearance. 

This overdosing is one of our heritages. It is too 
often the outgrowth of the desire to try something or do 
something, or be agreeable to the suggestions of sugges- 
tive friends who suggest something merely for the sake 
of suggesting, and because it looks wise to suggest; and 
also because, without suggesting, they would not be 
fashionable or kind. The poor baby has only to yell and 
bear it. That seems to be its fashionable vocation in 
this life, and its only recommendation among its 
acquaintances is its great crossness. 

As this is the only way in which the infant can talk, 
are you surprised that it declaims with most emphatic 
veils against this ignorant experimentation of its ances- 
tors, who thus play with its digestive health and future 
development instead of intelligently referring the sub- 



352 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Except in severe sickness, no medicines should be 
given to an infant but those which add to its digestion 
and growth. 



ject to their physician, and thus giving the infant a 
chance for success in the race of life ? 

All dosing should have for its object to add more to 
the infant, or to prepare the digestive organs for success- 
fully receiving more. This object must be kept steadily 
in view in all managing, directing, and prescribing for 
infants, else mothers will continue to perpetuate the bad 
spots in their children, which physicians daily find as 
obstacles in their recovery from illness in the future 
months or years. 

Judicious Medication. 

As physicians become older in the practice of medi- 
cine, it is notorious that they reduce the number of 
the medicines prescribed. They gradually realize that 
Nature has great powers of reparation, and that she will, 
in the majority of cases, be her own best physician 
if obstacles and errors are removed from her path. 
Under these conditions, prescribing for the sick is mostly 
observing the principles of health, and then using only 
such remedies as assist these healthy principles followed 
by Nature. 

In the domestic circle there is a like necessity, 
and a few remedies can be used with great advantage 
when an indiscretion or error has been committed by the 
child or its attendant. This is often illustrated by the 
sudden necessity for removing an overload or an unsuit- 
able one from the stomach or bowels; by the necessity 
of a warm bath to remove a chill or severe coldness 
of the extremities, thus equalizing the circulation of 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 353 

Sensible dietary avoids the necessity for medication 
in most infants. 

blood; by the necesssity of some corrective for the diges- 
tion where not enough food is taken to properly nourish 
the body, and also for several other conditions which 
are purely the result of errors committed suddenly and 
thoughtlessly, or allowed to grow gradually. 

A few remedies are here considered and their uses 
explained. These are of vital necessity, and a proper 
knowledge of their use can do no harm; but on the con- 
trary, may and will often do incalculable good among 
young children when judiciously used. 

Oastor Oil. 

The benefits accruing from the use of this remedy can- 
not be enumerated. They are too manifold and well es- 
tablished to require repetition. As a "relief" to the 
overworked digestive organs, it is a grand success. It 
is a veritable new broom sweeping out all the superfluous 
and poisonous decomposed food in the alimentary canal, 
thus giving all those tired organs a much needed rest. 
Not only does it cleanse the irritated parts, but it heals 
them as well; and did we know enough not to repeat the 
disturbance there, its effects would be permanent. As a 
first remedy in almost any sickness it is reliable; but as 
a much repeated remedy in any one sickness, especially 
constipation, it is a failure. 

Mothers must remember that in the feverish commence- 
ment of any sickness, all foods lying in the stomach or 
bowels at once commence to ferment or decompose, and 
thus develop poisons which enter the circulation and cause 
convulsions in some, headache and fever in others, delir- 
ium in many 5 and various other disturbances according 

23 



354 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Always empty the bowels in the commencement of 
any sickness. 



to the constitutions of the children. This demands the 
prompt use of the cathartic in the beginning of every 
feverish sickness. 

Enema. 

The use of liquid injections into the rectum has be- 
come so common in infants that it is being abused. 
While this treatment is required in many cases, and in 
the majority is far preferable to the administration of 
cathartics, yet enemas are frequently and commonly given 
where not required, and the doing of this often estab- 
lishes the costive habit. If by their use we can avoid 
the abuse of cathartics, which should never be used with- 
out a distinct reason, then it is well to supplant the greater 
evil by the lesser one. 

In the majority of cases, any warm liquid or mixture 
will answer the purpose, as the bowel usually commences 
to act as soon as distended with the fluid. Where repe- 
tition is very common, we sometimes find a tolerance es- 
tablished for this treatment, and the bowels will only 
respond to large quantities of water or stimulating 
mixtures. Where this is the case, strong soapsuds, weak 
solutions of common salt, glycerine, or sulphate of mag- 
nesia may be used. The strength is not important, as it 
is immediately expelled, or if absorbed can do no harm. 
At times, in obstinate cases, sweet oil and castor oil are 
used in the same way, either alone or in combination 
with the hot soap solution. Occasionally all these fail to 
stimulate the bowel to activity, the liquid being returned 
and no stool, or very little, coming with it. Commonly, 
in these cases, the writer finds this result is due to the 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 355 

over-anxiety for a stool on the part of the mother or nurse, 
and the failure is due to an empty rectum. Generally, 
the treatment is successful in these cases next day when 
there is necessity for it. 

As the liquid or mixture is always harmless in an 
enema, the quantity used will be determined by the 
response of the bowel. At first the mere contact of the 
rubber nozzle in the rectum is sufficient, but by frequent 
repetition the amount required will vary from a teaspoon- 
ful to a pint. Xo force should be exercised in using it, 
and a soft rubber nozzle, instead of a hard one, should 
always be inserted in the rectum. Commonly the soft 
rubber bulb, such as is used for the ear, is the most suit- 
able instrument for this purpose. Care should always be 
exercised to invert this nozzle and expel all the air before 
inserting it in the bowel, as the injection of air com- 
monly causes colic and at times severe pain. 

Suppositories. 

Another common stimulant to the rectum is the ordin- 
ary soap-stick. This is only a small piece of soap cut 
into shape like the end of a lead pencil and passed into 
the rectum, after wetting or oiling it. It soon 
stimulates the bowel to activity when first used, 
if properly inserted. The finger should follow 
it up till the first joint reaches the anus. 
The ordinary glycerine suppositories of com- 
merce are more stimulating than the soap, 
and are used successfully in many cases, 
Jjfp-^tiik. though some adults when using them complain 
of the irritation they cause. They act by causing a 
weeping and contraction of the bowel, and thus demand- 
ing the expulsive efforts used in regular stool. The 



356 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Constipation is seldom cured by laxatives. The food 
should be made relaxing-. 



utility of these is being much subverted by their abuse. 
They have followed the same worn path, much abused 
from time immemorial, by the unnecessary and injurious 
use of cathartics. 

Medicated Enemas. 

These are always used, if possible, in the empty bowel, 
or after first using water to wash out the rectum. Their 
object is to supplement the stomach when it fails or is 
insufficient for the required purpose. They are also 
used where, by the location of the disease, it can be 
more easily and successfully reached through the rectum. 
In medicated enemas and suppositories, the intention is 
not to move the bowels but to restrain them till the fobd 
or medicine placed in the rectum is absorbed. In 
some irritable, tender, or weak stomachs this method of 
feeding is resorted to for a limited time, in order to rest 
this organ and at the same time support the patient. In 
a limited number of patients this is very successful, 
indeed, as it keeps the patient alive till the stomach 
resumes its duty. In a great many it fails entirely of 
doing this temporary work, and in many it cannot be 
used for even once with success. Very commonly it is 
necessary to use some opiate, either in the enema or prior 
to it, in order to restrain the rectum from expelling its 
contents. As this treatment depends on the absorption 
of the food or medicine, it must be retained indefinitely 
or entirely without painful sensations to the patient. 
Beef tea, milk, and thin gruel or starch at a temperature 
of 98-| degrees, and completely digested, are the types of 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 357 

food most commonly used. They are repeated in five to 
six hours, as the rectum will permit. 

When it is desirable to use medicines in this way, they 
are dissolved in a small quantity of water, usually one to 
six teaspoonfuls, or an equal amount of thin starch. The 
total amount must be small, that it be retained in the 
rectum and quickly absorbed. As this practice is most 
applicable to abdominal affections of a painful character, 
where the use of anodynes in large enough doses to 
relieve the distress would or does cause nausea, it 
becomes a very valuable and successful method of giving 
relief. All enemas intended to remain until absorbed, 
should be made as small as possible, given at blood heat, 
and very slowly, so as not to excite the expulsive efforts 
of the bowel. If expelled soon, as commonly occurs in 
dysentery, they should be again repeated till the effect 
required is obtained. 

Medicated Suppositories, 

Medicated suppositories have become a very desirable 
and successful method of administering soothing and 
bitter remedies to children and adults who object to the 
dose, or who are unabie for any reason to swallow it. 
Perfect constitutional effects are frequently obtained in 
this way for several days. Care must be exercised to 
have the suppositories well oiled, as their frequent repeti- 
tion generally causes some irritation of the rectum and 
demands a change in the mode of administration. 

Rectal Irrigations. 

The use of water in the rectum to cleanse or cool the 
canal as far up as possible is commonly demanded, espe- 
cially in the dysenteric irritations of hot weather. As it 



358 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Feeding by enema is unreliable. It can be used only 
for a limited time. 

Save the stomach for food and use the rectum for 
medicine in infants -with weak digestion. 



is desirable to reach as high as possible, a rubber catheter 
is used instead of the ordinary nozzle. After being well 
oiled, this is passed slowly up the bowel, turning it around 
continuously that it may not become caught or stopped in 
the folds of the bowels. The warm or cold water, as or- 
dered, is then allowed to run, distending the bowel freely, 
and is usually ejected as it is given. This requires prep- 
aration of the bed with a pad or rubber sheet to control 
the water as it returns from the bowel. In this treat- 
ment, large quantities of water are used, and the stream 
continued, slowly pushing the catheter farther up, till the 
requisite cooling or cleansing is obtained. 

Small lumps of ice are occasionally used in the rectum 
for their cooling effect. As the sharp edges scrape and 
irritate, it is necessary that these lumps be held in warm 
water a few seconds to render them smooth before inser- 
tion. They should be made about the size of the ordi- 
nary suppository. 

Heal hot saline injections, made by adding one tea- 
spoonful of common salt to a pint of hot water, are com- 
monly used in the collapsed condition of any sickness to 
stimulate and warm the patient. They are as valuable in 
warming a cold collapsed child as the cold ones are in 
cooling a feverish child. 

Digestive Assistants. 

By this term is meant such remedies as are able to 
assist the digestive organs, or do their work entirely dur- 
ing a temporary inability. These remedies cannot be 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 359 

By assisting the digestive organs you add bloom to 
the cheek and flesh to the body. 

Perfect nutrition carries infants through long sickness 
without blemishes. 



properly classed as medicines. They act entirely on the 
food swallowed, and only affect the infant by tempo- 
rarily digesting its food. In this way the only possible 
result is a beneficial one, and their continued use for a 
few days or weeks must always tend to increase the 
infant's weight and strength through enabling it to con- 
sume and appropriate a greater amount of food. 

There are many conditions where a judicious use of 
these digestive assistants (Remedy No. 43) is strongly 
called for. Let us look at some of them. 

1 In the cross baby who suffers continually from 
colic, cannot sleep well, and has vari-colored, slimy 
stools; here the digestive secretions are not quite 
strong enough to digest the milk, and require assistance. 
This inequality may be due to imperfect digestive devel- 
opment, or an overly strong milk. Here, generally, the 
cross, colicky baby will be converted into a happy, play- 
ful one by using digestive assistants. 

2. The pale, anaemic infant of one to three years fre- 
quently shows by its pale face, soft flesh, and general 
languor and listlessness that it is poorly nourished; also 
it shows these results as directly due to imperfect nutri- 
tion. Here the digestive powers are temporarily inact- 
ive and doing only one-half or two-thirds of their usual 
labor. It may, and probably is, due to the weak or feeble 
condition of the digestive glands, and the addition of 
digestive assistants at each meal will enable a larger 
amount of food to be consumed. In this way frequently 
the stomach and all digestive glands are strengthened 



360 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Digestive assistants secure a good appropriation of 
food by weak digestive organs. 

and enabled again to perform their usual and regular 
labor, preserving the healthy color of the face and the 
usual hardness of flesh. 

3. In the beginning of many acute sicknesses, and 
all through the course of many wasting illnesses, there is 
great necessity for fortifying the enfeebled digestive 
power by using these assistants to the temporarily 
disabled organs. As they can never do other than good, 
they should be commenced promptly and continued as 
long as the wasting process of disease is present. When 
Nature reacts, and the illness is passing away, then 
they may be discontinued with returning or returned 
health and strength. A judicious and persistent use of 
these assistants will carry many an infant through a try- 
ing sickness, who would otherwise succumb to weakness 
from imperfect nutrition. 

There are many other conditions in which it is neces- 
sary to call in all the forces possible to save the health 
and lives of our little ones. It is not necessary to enu- 
merate them. The three conditions mentioned above will 
show some of the opportunities ever and always presented 
for watching most carefully the nourishment of the 
infant. 

In other words, no matter what we do for the sickness, be 
sure we take good care of the child; and when apparently 
the child is not sick but only complaining and cross, we 
often find the greatest necessity for looking carefully to 
its better nutrition. 

A child poorly nourished is not in a safe condition, as 
it easily contracts infectious and contagious diseases, and 
cannot well resist them. 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 361 

Opiates save hundreds of lives for every one addicted 
to the opium or morphine habit. Children never learn this 
morphine habit. 



Anodynes. 

These are used by a great many mothers for various 
reasons. They are mostly given to cross or colicky babies, 
who are continually in distress. As all these anodyne 
mixtures contain opium in some form, this practice is to 
be deprecated. While their occasional use in extreme 
cases of suffering is desirable and beneficial, the tendency 
is toward too frequent use, and resulting constipation. 
There is no fear of fastening an opium habit on a child, 
but certainly a lesser degree of damage and imperfect 
development may be established by excessive use of these 
remedies. The tendency is always to overlook, and thus 
perpetuate the cause of the child's distress when the ano- 
dyne temporarily relieves the bad or painful result. The 
rational treatment is to seek out the cause of the child's 
disturbance and avoid a repetition of the same. 

Many people are unnecessarily opposed to the use of an 
opiate even temporarily, where the severity of the sick- 
ness is damaging the child, and the use (not abuse) would 
give relief till the error or sickness can be corrected or 
relieved. There is no more valuable remedy than a prop- 
erly selected opiate in skillful hands, and when judiciously 
used never does any harm. It is always the habitual and 
useless repetition of the remedy that is to be deprecated." 

Hot Applications. 

These are used frequently to relieve pain or swelling 
at any and all parts of the body. It is well to remem- 
ber that the delicate skin and nervous timidity of the 
child will not allow of as great warmth as can be used 



362 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Heat should be applied in the dry form whenever this 
is possible. 



with the adult. This applies to all irritants also, such 
as mustard and blisters. Hot applications are commonly 
made either dry or wet, and in different forms as indi- 
cated. Where they can be used successfully in the dry 
form, it is much preferable; but for some irritations, the 
moist applications are necessary. 

Heat applied in the dry form has the advantages of 
lightness, more continuous and steady application, less 
labor, more rest, dryness of the clothing, and greater com- 
fort to the patient. The common form of heating woolen 
cloths answers a good purpose where only short applica- 
tions are needed. The most perfect and continuous hot 
application is the rubber bag filled with hot water. This 
is the form which readily gives the temperature needed 
for hours in succession without changing; but there are 
parts of the body and some little patients where so large 
an article, or so heavy a one, cannot be applied. In these 
situations small meal-bags should be used, made of cotton 
the size required and filled with hot corn or oat meal. 
When cool, these can be heated in the oven or on the 
hot-water bag and reapplied. They have the advantage 
of lightness and pliability, and can be fastened on where 
placed. This is important in many situations, as upon a 
painful ear, where the hot-water bag is inclined to slip 
away. When filled with these meals no unpleasant odor 
is emitted, and they can be used indefinitely. Many other 
heated articles are successfully used in emergencies, but 
the lightness and pliability of any article always give 
it an advantage. 

Blisters. 
These are used to produce redness of the surface, and 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 363 

Always select the infant's diet in May, and allow no 
changes in the quality of it till October. This secures 
yellow stools and good health all summer. 



very careful watching is needed to prevent greater injury 
to the skin than is required. All irritations should be 
used as sparingly as possible on infants, lest a sore be 
produced that will delay in the healing process. While 
a fly blister is placed for the express purpose of produc- 
ing a sore that will remain open for days, yet care 
should be used to avoid a sore that will leave a mark 
after it. As soon as the skin shows red it should be 
removed, as it blisters afterward. This may take from 
two to three hours on the child, or seven to eight on 
an adult. In some positions where the skin is soft and 
thin it will not take so long. The surface after the blis- 
ter is removed must be dressed with some heavy, slow 
drying unguent, such as castor oil or lard. Vaseline is 
frequently very irritating, and should not then be used 
on raw surfaces. 

Mustard when applied to children must be greatly 
diluted — one teaspoonful to eight of flour — and removed 
early. A very slight blush in the skin demands its 
removal, as the blister or sore produced by mustard too 
long applied is very painful and slow to heal. 

Leeches. 

The application of leeches is occasionally required in 
acute diseases. They generally cause fear in children 
when seen. The slight pain or smarting they produce by 
their bite is very much aggravated when they are also seen, 
as the little one dreads the sight of them. By cutting a 
small hole in the bottom or top of an ordinary pill-box 
and putting the leech inside, the hole can be placed in 



364 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Never use a rubber tube on an infant's feeding- bottle. 
Danger, like sin, lurks in dark places. 

close contact with the skin, and the leech is then limited 
to this spot, where it will soon fasten itself. The cold, 
crawling feeling on the skin while looking for a place to 
bite, is also avoided. Leeches cause little pain, and in 
this way several can be applied at once when required. 
As the bites sometimes continue bleeding too long, the 
mother may be required to control this. Pressure with the 
finger, continued for a few minutes, will always check it. 

Antitoxin. 

This remedy is so valuable, that, with the old physi- 
cian, words fail to express his grateful appreciation of 
its wonderful curative power in diphtheria. Only those 
of us who have been compelled to be present and witness 
the grief and distress of parents, losing not only one 
child but two or perhaps three or even four of their deal 
little ones from this dread malady, and then finally see 
the parents themselves stricken with it, can fully appre- 
ciate the great blessing this remedy is to humanity. 
Instead of many thousands dying yearly in our cities, 
towns, and country places as formerly occurred, when 
we now hear of such a death, we wonder if the Case was 
treated with antitoxin. If treated with this remedy, we 
ask next, Was it used the first or second day of the sick- 
ness before other poisons from the throat had entered the 
blood circulation? If the remedy was used during the 
first two days, then the question arises, Was it used 
freely enough? 

Statistics show that if used freely during the first day 
there are only five per cent, of deaths. If used freely 
on the second day there are about eight per cent, of 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 365 

In diphtheria and false membrane croup always use 
antitoxin early. 

In all sore throats where there are white patches 
use antitoxin at once. 



deaths. If used freely on the third day there are 
about sixteen per cent, of deaths, and later than this 
day shows the blood of the patient often thoroughly 
poisoned and the benefits from antitoxin correspondingly 
reduced. 

The inference then is, watch for sore throat in all sick- 
nesses of children, and have the physician called as 
soon as you find one, so the child may have the bene- 
fit of antitoxin treatment under the five per cent, mortal- 
ity rate of the first day. If you are very prompt and 
the treatment liberal, you will avoid an acquaintance with 
the undertaker. 

Head Affections. 

The care of an infant's head in the majority of febrile 
affections is a first duty in nursing. As head trouble 
comes in secondarily to other sicknesses in most cases, 
the nurse or mother has a great opportunity to detect 
features which indicate disturbance at this point. 

Too great importance cannot be attached to this sub- 
ject, and too much care cannot be exercised in watching 
for the first indication that may point in this direction. 
Where this is not done early and considerable advance 
in head trouble has been allowed before detection, the 
chances for recovery are materially reduced. 

During the warm season of the year particularly, a 
very large proportion of the deaths in infantile troubles 
is preceded or caused by head complications. 

Suspicion should be aroused by any departure from 
the natural condition or habits of the child, not clearly 



366 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Infants usually show head disturbances in serious 
febrile diseases before dying". Parents should always 
expect this and keep the head cool by bathing" it fre- 
quently with cold water. This is never injurious in 
any sickness. 



explained by the sickness; and as these changes appear 
in all kinds of feverish disturbances, there is no sick 
infant who can be considered safe from them. 

As the early detection is at times difficult for even the 
most experienced physician, the nurse or mother need 
have no timidity in expressing her fears to him, as he is 
always on the alert for this complication. 

The symptoms which should create alarm are numer- 
ous. The most marked are changes in the sleep, either 
too much or too little, mostly the latter; restlessness of 
the head, headache, moaning, sudden crying out in the 
sleep, delirium, listlessness, lack of interest in the usual 
surroundings and toys, indifference for drink or food, 
voracious thirst, sighing, irregular breathing, obstinate 
vomiting or constipation, nervousness, excitability, heat 
in the head, coldness of the extremities, staring, cross 
eyes, and very many other conditions which may properly 
be classified as unnatural. 

The importance of this latter word " unnatural" as 
applied to infantile conditions cannot be overestimated, 
and where it applies to a sick child, it demands the most 
careful and persistent examination till a satisfactory solu- 
tion of it.can be obtained. Too often this solution is 
found in the head. In fact, no person can have the 
charge of a sick child and feel free from the possibility 
of this complication. Particularly does this tendency 
apply in hot weather and to some families in whom all 
the children have convulsions when febrile from any 
cause, even to simple cold or overeating. 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 367 

Nervousness, -wakefulness, loss of sleep, excitability, 
trembling, hot head, indifference, great thirst, cold feet, 
and unnatural conduct indicate head complications. 

In children's sicknesses, parents should always look 
for danger in the head. 



The early, free and judicious use of cold water to the 
head, and continuous gentle massage with the applying 
of it, will never do any harm, and commonly will prevent 
brain trouble or give relief sufficient to induce sleep and 
comfort till the physician prescribes. Here let me 
again impress on mothers the great importance of per- 
sistently watching the head, no matter where the partic- 
ular fever or sickness is located. 

The large immature brain is very susceptible of secon- 
dary sympathetic irritation due to toxemia, or stimula- 
tion from any distant point in the body. In these cases, 
cold to the head, cooling drinks, no food, quietness and 
general bathing always contribute to good rest and sleep, 
which are absolute requisites for recovery from febrile or 
toxemic disturbances. 

The bowels should always be kept moving, and enough 
water given regularly to secure a free flushing of the 
kidneys. Activity in these organs greatly assists in 
diverting this tendency from the head. For this purpose 
Remedy No. 40 may always be given with advantage 
during any other treatment. 

Eye Affections. 
Diseases of the eyes require specially prompt attention, 
as neglect or oversight for a few hours has often caused 
the total loss of these organs. Where any discharge of 
pus shows, especially in newly-born children, the physi- 
cian should be called at once. In the meantime, exclude 
the light from the room, bathe well and frequently with 



368 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

A sore eye in a newly-born baby demands immedi- 
ate attention to prevent blindness. An oculist should 
always treat it when pus appears. 



hot water and apply some simple ointment or vaseline to 
the edges of- the lids so that they cannot gum together 
and retain the poisonous discharges. All discharges from 
the eyes should have regular and constant drainage and 
cleaning. Light should be excluded by living in a dark 
room. 

Diseases of the Throat. 

Early knowledge of throat affections assists greatly 
in their proper treatment. Frequent examination of the 
throat is an absolute necessity in the beginning of al] 
febrile sicknesses among children. This should always 
be done when a child shows any change from its normal 
healthy condition. Frequently this omission will allow 
dangerous diseases to pass unnoticed for days. 

Many children will deny any trouble there to avoid 
having a spoon or depressor placed on the tongue in exam- 
ining them; others become too stupid from the fever or are 
too young to know where the disease lies, and so make no 
complaint about this part, even though extensive and 
dangerous changes are there present. 

In examining the throat, the tongue must be well 
depressed so as to see the throat clearly in a bright light; 
and auy examination short of this is unreliable. All 
white spots, swelling of tonsils, and bright redness indi- 
cate disease requiring attention. 

Until the physician prescribes, you can apply cold 
compresses externally, and give warm or cold drinks 
internally as demanded by the child. No restrictions 
are needed in the diet, as these children will not eat. 
They should have all the sleep possible. Sleeping and 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 369 

Every mother should practice the infant in showing- 
its throat while well. She will then easily see and rec- 
ognize disease when it appears. 

An infant's throat or mouth should never be swabbed, 
as this does more harm than good. Internal treatment 
is needed always. 



eating well are always desirable, as these generally indi- 
cate a light attack. 

Swabbing the throat should not be attempted, as it 
injures the patient, causes pain, and increases the disease. 
Children old enough to gargle the throat may do so with 
warm water and soda (Remedy No. 55). This should 
be done every three hours while awake, and fever mix- 
ture (Remedy No. 46) given internally. 

Where any white spots are seen in the throat, a physi- 
cian should be called at once, as these indicate tonsilitis 
or diphtheria. 

Mothers should practice examining the throats of their 
children while well, as this causes no hurting; and chil- 
dren thus taught will soon be able to show the throat 
without the use of a spoon. These children when 
trained have' no fear of the physician or mother in sick- 
ness, and allow this examination without the usual resis- 
tance. 

Mothers practicing this maneuver on their infants soon 
become familiar with the appearance of the healthy 
throat and readily detect the diseased one. 

Lungs and Bronchial Tubes. 
Coughs are mostly due to irritation of the bronchial 
tubes or lungs in infants. Most commonly the irrita- 
tion is confined to the upper part of the tubes. Here 
frequently we have an unavoidable trouble, in many 
children, who have successive attacks of bronchitis dur- 

24 



370 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Coughs, without fever, are seldom dangerous in chil- 
dren. These children should be kept in a warm atmos- 
phere all the time. 

Tepid baths allay the fever in lung diseases. They 
should be repeated as often as is needed to cool the 
infant and give rest. 



ing the cold weather. While these might possibly be 
avoided by keeping the child in the warm house atmos- 
phere, there would then be danger from the debilitating 
influences of confinement. 

It is desirable to avoid the excesses of cold and wind, 
but in moderate weather, by proper clothing and protec- 
tion from the wind, infants over two months old can safely 
be taken out for an airing. It is important to remember 
always that the cold air passing into the lungs necessa- 
rily exposes 'this part to outside temperatures, and the use 
of a thick veil where possible is a decided protection in 
warming the air at each inspiration. 

When once a cold has been contracted and cough fol- 
lows it, the necessity for continuously breathing warm air 
cannot be overestimated. Such children must be kept in 
a warm room, night and day till all febrile symptoms 
have completely subsided. Exposure in this condition 
tends to increase the amount of surface irritated, and 
thus add pneumonia to the bronchitis. 

Warm drinks and tepid baths allay the feverish condi- 
tion and thus lessen the cough by loosening the dis- 
charges and promoting perspiration. Coughs generally 
improve if the skin is kept in a soft, moist condition, but a 
chilling of it causes a like result on the tube or lungs. 
Thus is it important that the child sleep in as warm an 
atmosphere at night as it occupies in the daytime. The 
common practice of reducing the heat at night or going 
into a cooler room for sleep effectually retards improve- 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 371 

The cotton jacket is preferable to the linseed poul- 
tice in lung* diseases. Hot poultices should be used 
when there is acute pain. 



merit. An equable atmosphere, regularly renewed through 
adjoining halls or rooms, is an absolute necessity in car- 
ing for all these lung and tube disturbances. 

Poultices are commonly applied, and with benefit in 
many cases of fever and distressed breathing. Where 
used they should be made on a band long enough to 
encircle the whole body and fastened together at the 
ends and also over the shoulders. This maintains them in 
proper position, and if made soft enough with boiling 
water and well mixed with vaseline or lard also, they 
will remain soft and moist for six or eight hours without 
changing. 

Many prefer the application of a cotton wool jacket 
(Remedy No. 78), well covered with vaseline or oil 
instead of the poultice. Either one is a good applica- 
tion. Where a slightly stimulating dressing is desired to 
redden the skin, camphorated oil, or a small amount of 
mustard or turpentine, may also be added to these dress- 
ings. 

In the early stages of lung troubles where some pain 
is present, very hot poultices with mustard dressing and 
repeated every hour or two will give more relief than the 
cotton jacket. As the poultice may be applied warm 
enough to stimulate the surface strongly, it has more 
decided medicinal effect than the cotton jacket ; but when 
the first acute stage is over, the latter is less changeable 
as a dressing and maintains a more equable surface tem- 
perature than the poultice. 

The body under the cotton jacket should be freshly oiled 
twice daily with Remedy No. 84. Patients requiring such 



372 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Children showing any heart disturbance, or distress 
in the chest, require perfect quietude and prompt med- 
ical treatment. 



dressings should have medical attendance also. The writer 
finds the regular rubbing twice daily, with Remedy No. 
84 an advantage, or preferable to these jacket dressings 
for reducing fever in these cases. 

Heart Diseases. 

A very popular and significant, but not intelligent 
expression, is " Heart failure" as commonly and promis- 
cuously applied. It is applicable to any and every seri- 
ous form of disease, inasmuch as all necessarily die with 
heart failure, and could not die without it. But this does 
not explain the cause of heart failure, which in most 
cases is only a result of other serious complications. 

Young children suffering from primary or genuine 
heart diseases require great care and attention. Chil- 
dren afflicted in this way do not show the distress and 
suffering that adults do with an equal amount of dis- 
turbance. The acute affections of the heart are not so 
common or easily recognized as are those of the lungs, 
consequently they will not demand so much attention. 

In the chronic forms, where palpitation and shortness 
of breath prevail, attention will be most required. Here 
we have complications, giving distress in direct propor- 
tion to the motion or activity, and also showing a strong 
tendency to fainting on sudden upward movements from 
the horizontal position. 

The main indications for care in most heart disturb- 
ances point to avoidance of excesses in all directions. 
Running, overeating, extreme excitement, fever, colds, 
especially bronchial ones, mounting stairways and hills, 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 373 

Growing pains are an evidence of that rheumatic 
taint which is the foundation of nearly all future heart 
diseases. 

Irritation of the heart gives no pain to the child. 
Parents should always be on the watch for heart pal- 
pitation and short breath. 



and lifting weights, are all dangerous, as they put an extra 
load of work upon the enfeebled organ. 

Where danger arises in this organ, its action is so sud- 
den always that little opportunity is given for treatment. 
The avoidance of trouble by quietness constitutes the 
principal part of the care and nursing. 

Growing pains, so called, are commonly early mani- 
festations of a rheumatic weakness that leads subse- 
quently to derangement of the valves of the heart. Such 
being the case, it behooves nurses and parents to give 
these symptoms such thought and attention as will erad- 
icate this tendency. Such patients require careful 
medical treatment and clothing warm enough to protect 
the skin from any chilling influence. This clothing 
must be woolen for the greater part of the year. 

The early symptoms of heart disease commonly appear 
while children are apparently in good health, and are 
generally very difficult to detect. It is this silent and 
painless beginning which is so deceiving and demands 
such vigilance from parents and nurses to prevent that 
damage to this important organ which when once estab- 
lished can never be eradicated, and in most cases gradually 
becomes worse with increasing years. 

All patients who in childhood show the rheumatic 
tendency must be carefully protected, both in clothing 
and exercise. It behooves mothers to consider these 
indefinite small pains in joints and limbs as warnings 
that just such small sore spots may occur in the heart 



374 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Parents should always remember that rheumatic irri- 
tations, even when slight, are likely to be repeated and 
cause permanent damage to the heart. 



itself, and make no disturbance recognizable except to the 
careful, investigating physician. Were such spots in 
the heart as painful as they are in the joints, fewer of 
them would be passed over unnoticed, as they- are at 
present. Parents require to be fully educated on this 
point, that they may be more on the alert with their 
children. 

The Abdomen. 

As all acute inflammations in the abdomen produce 
pain and tenderness on pressure or exercise, they are easily 
recognized. The abdominal organs press directly upon 
each other, so you will find it an absolute necessity in 
sickness of this part to secure quiet and rest both by the 
horizontal position in bed and avoidance of all such 
efforts as will cause friction or pressure of one part upon 
another. The walls in this part of the body are soft and 
elastic, leaving the internal organs more exposed to out- 
side pressure when diseased, than are those in the thor- 
acic cavity. 

After having obtained all the relief possible by posi- 
tion and quietness, it behooves you to remember that the 
duties performed by the abdominal organs are increased 
or decreased by the amount of food and drink which the 
child obtains ; also that pressure is increased and 
decreased in this way in like proportion. Most generally, 
a careful adjustment of diet to the absolute necessities of 
the patient is demanded in all acute abdominal disturb- 
ances. 

The outside applications demanded to relieve pain and 
distress will frequently be found an irritation by their 



HOME INFANTILE TREATMENT. 375 

A child -with any abdominal trouble should have lit- 
tle food. Absolute rest in bed is demanded with every 
case. Inflammation of the abdomen gives pain on pres- 
sure. 



weight alone, and it will then be necessary to use light, 
dry meals or cloths in making the hot dressings needed. 
In chronic abdominal affections, these difficulties are not 
encountered, as there is little tenderness or soreness in 
old irritations. 

Heart Failure. 

This is an expression commonly used to explain a sud- 
den or unexpected death. It is very fashionable, and 
like most fashions, is of recent growth.. The writer never 
heard the expression during the first twenty-five years of 
his medical practice; but many times he would have 
been grateful, in trying and fatal cases, for it or any 
explanation that satisfied so many and said so little. 

What is Heart Failure f It applies to a healthy as 
well as a diseased heart, and means usually a heart that 
is tired out, and must rest, because it cannot work any 
longer. Here, resting means death. 

The heart becomes tired, like its owner, when it is 
compelled to run at a high speed for a long time. This 
occurs in fevers and severe inflammations. 

The heart becomes tired in wasting diseases, where it 
is poorly fed or nourished, and yet compelled to run 
rapidly instead of beating slowly, as in health. 

The heart also becomes tired and fails where it is com- 
pelled to shove heavy loads of blood through obstructions 
and up hill, as in bronchitis and pneumonia. 

These are only a few of the sick conditions which must 
inevitably cause heart failure, and which the experienced 
physician is always looking forward to in serious sicknesses. 



CHAPTEK XII. 



Introductory. 

The object aimed at in the following chapters is to give 
mothers and nurses enough information to enable them to 
act intelligently with their children in all forms of sick- 
nesses and emergencies. It is intended to equip them 
intelligently, so that they can properly care for the small 
disturbances incident to child life, and know correctly 
when the services of the physician are required. 

Beyond this the intelligent mother or nurse never 
desires to tread, and will refuse to do so, save in those sit- 
uations where the services of a physician are not quickly 
obtainable. If the following pages are such as to accomp- 
lish this result, the object of the writer has been attained. 

Before entering on the consideration of diseases, it is 
well for mothers and nurses to understand the different 
symptoms of the diseased condition and their value. As 
the writer commonly finds parents having erroneous ideas 
of the importance of these, it seems well to consider their 
significance, as well as this can be done in a general way. 
This is done to assist parents in recognizing serious com- 
plications, and to avoid unnecessary alarm in mild dis- 
turbances. 

SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 

Fever. — This is present in most infantile diseases. It 
usually runs from the normal temperature, 98-| degrees, to 

376 



SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 377 

105 degrees. Below 103 degrees is common and mostly 
free from danger; 103 degrees to 101 degrees is a serious 
condition if continued many days; 104 degrees to 105 
degrees is critical, and must not be allowed to continue 
many hours. 

These temperatures can always be reduced by free 
bathing with water below 95 degrees. The colder the 
water the more powerful is it in reducing the fever. 
Always bathe the head, and all other parts if needed. 
Bathe long enough and repeat often enough to keep the 
temperature in safe limits — below 103 degrees. This can 
be safely done in all diseases. 

Pulse. — The pulse represents the action of the heart, 
and in speed moves up and down with the temperature, 
except in affections of the head, where slowing of the 
pulse indicates increasing danger. 

The pulse at birth beats 135 to 110 per minute. It 
decreases with age till the adult pulse reaches 72. Increased 
frequency indicates increased danger in most sick- 
nesses. Irregularity in beats with smallness of size still 
more increases this danger. When the heart is loaded 
too heavily or driven too fast, it falters, gradually tires 
out and stops. This is the greatest source of danger, and 
is what is generally meant by heart failure. 

Respirations. — At birth these count forty-five per min- 
ute; in adults they fall to sixteen. Respirations increase 
always as fever rises ; but their greatest increase is shown 
in bronchitis and pneumonia. The faster an infant 
breathes, the greater is the danger; but at two years 
old they commonly breathe eighty times per minute, and 
yet recover when suffering from pneumonia or bronchitis. 

Delirium. — This is common in many feverish children 
during the night or when awaking. Transient delirium 



378 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

is not dangerous; but the continuous kind is very impor- 
tant and serious. Allowance must always be made for the 
child's usual mental condition when sick. The delirium 
which passes away when the child is questioned is not 
usually dangerous. 

Delirium generally accompanies high temperature, 104 
degrees to 105 degrees; but the children in some fam- 
ilies always have delirium when they have fever, even of 
a low degree. 

A low, muttering delirium very commonly accompanies 
the weak typhoid state. 

Headache. — This is generally present in the feverish 
condition; when the stomach is overloaded; after too 
much exercise; in meningitis; after too much study; in 
crowded rooms ; after exposure to the sun ; missing meals, 
and drinking too freely of cold water while very warm. 
Headache in school children frequently results from eye 
strain due to imperfect vision. Where it is very persist- 
ent and does not yield to treatment, it is frequently a 
serious symptom, pointing to future brain complications. 

Crying. — In infants during the first few months this 
is a healthy athletic necessity, needed in expanding the 
lungs, strengthening the muscles of respiration, and also 
the heart. 

Some children cry too much and from very slight 
cause, even to the extent of screaming. The source or 
cause of this is generally found in the digestive organs, 
and is due to overfeeding or unhealthy food. Nursing 
mothers can usually trace it to their own food, exercise or 
mental condition. In hand-fed infants, errors in the qual- 
ity of the milk or the amount fed will usually explain it. 
The mother or nurse should look for gas, foul odors, 
green colors or slime in the stools. Where the stools 



SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 379 

show none of these to explain the crying, the ear should 
be examined, by pressing close- around it, for soreness. 
If this fails to show any tenderness, food or drink should 
be offered to the little one. Nothing will cause such per- 
sistent crying in young infants at night as earache or 
hunger. Older children can designate the cause of suf- 
fering, and in thern toothache also causes much crying. 

Young infants do not shed tears, and these are consid- 
ered an evidence of much pain, but little danger. 

Gas in the bowels causes much crying. This is due to 
indigestion, and the crying ceases when the gas escapes. 
Infants with much gas, or foul odors, cry a great deal. 

Every crying infant should be undressed to see if the 
clothes or pins are hurting it. Then look carefully in 
the mouth for sores or redness of the lips, tongue, or 
gums. 

Vomiting. — When this follows feeding, it is mostly due 
to the amount of food received. If persistent after small 
as well as large meals, it is due to the quality of the food. 

If accompanied by fever it is due to indigestion caused 
by the food or some other concurrent sickness. Vomit- 
ing frequently ushers in febrile diseases, such as scarlet 
fever, measles, or meningitis. 

Stools. — Frequent stools when natural in odor, color, 
and consistence are healthy and right. Stools vary in 
number in different infants, but should not vary much in 
the same infant. 

Frequent stools accompanied by pain, foul odors, much 
gas, unusual colors, undue liquidity or slime, are unhealthy 
and require attention. 

Constipation. — This is very common, causes much 
annoyance, some pain, and little danger. Generally, it 
worries the mother or nurse more than it injures the 



380 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

child. An infant is healthy and safe in the natural stool 
condition, whether that be one stool in one day or in three 
days. The general habit of the infant is not easily cor- 
rected until after weaning, when the food is completely 
changed and the child has greater exercise. There is 
generally undue anxiety on this point in all families. 

Nervousness ; Trembling. — These usually accompany 
fever and point to approaching convulsions. Cool bathing 
should be promptly applied, and Remedy No. 54 given 
immediately. 

Wakefulness in healthy infants is usually due to the 
kind or amount of food. It occurs also after excitement 
or interruption of the usual regular habits. 

In delicate infants, or those improperly nourished, it 
is due to starvation or irritation of the nerve centers. 
The great preponderance of nerve tissues early feels the 
effect of nutritional errors. Sunshine, open air, and 
properly regulated diet correct this wakefulness in time. 

Too Frequent Urinating. — This should always be traced 
to some soreness, or error such as a long foreskin, in the 
genital organs. When due to this it is persistent until 
the cause is removed. 

Occasional attacks of frequent urinating are due to the 
quality of the urine, following a change in the food. 

Persistent frequency is accompanied by some pain, 
light or severe, and the cause exists in the bladder or the 
urethra — the tube carrying the urine from the bladder. 

Absence of Urine may be due to reduced secretion, or 
the retention in the bladder of a great amount. Bath- 
ing of the genitals with warm water will usually cause it 
to flow out quickly and give relief to all pain. 

Foul Breath. — This is mostly due to soreness of the 
mouth or throat, and should receive prompt examination. 



SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 381 

Frequently it is caused by a foul stomach from over- 
eating, or to bad teeth in older children. The cause of 
this should always be ascertained to exclude a dangerous 
sore throat, such as appears in diphtheria or scarlet fever. 

Drooling. — This is caused by the saliva trickling out 
of the mouth. In young infants it is natural; but when 
accompanied by a foul breath, it is due to soreness of the 
mouth and lips, and requires treatment. 

Starting in Sleep. — This is very common, especially 
with some children, even the healthiest. It is difficult 
always to assign the cause of it, but it does not indicate 
any disturbance requiring attention. 

In sick infants who are taking anodyne medicines, this 
symptom is very marked and does not point to any 
definite condition of sickness. 

Cough. — Infants cough from many causes, which may 
be in the nose, throat, tubes, lungs, stomach, liver, or 
bowels. The danger from coughs in young infants applies 
only to those of recent origin. A long existing cough 
is seldom dangerous or even serious, and always passes 
away. A recent one may be fatal. As children grow 
older, this rule does not apply. Those over two years old 
may develop tuberculosis and show a cough of a long, 
serious character. As children grow older this occurs 
more frequently. 

Perspiration. — This is not a common process in young 
infants, but show T s on the forehead while nursing or sleep- 
ing in warm weather. An infant who perspires very 
much, especially on the head, is usually over six months 
old and improperly fed. If the diet is not quickly 
changed to correct this, rickets or scorbutus will likely 
show in the little infant and retard its growth. A prop- 
erly changed dietary will correct this, but medicine will not. 



382 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Sloiv Teething. — This, in some families, is the natural 
process. In most cases it is due to imperfect nutrition 
through faulty or weak food. This applies to both nursed 
and hand-fed infants. Many mothers retard the infantile 
growth through persistence in nursing when their milk 
produces foul stools. The same condition often appears 
in hand-fed infants. Such cases grow teeth and other 
bones too slowly for good development. The diet should 
always be changed in these cases. 

Analysis of Unhealthy Stools. 

Foul Odor. — This means decomposition of dead animal 
matter — eggs, meat or milk — in the body, the same 
as foul odor means rotting animal matter out of the body. 
Then the food must decompose instead of digesting. Is 
that so ? 

Yes, that is it exactly. There is not enough digestive 
fluid in the stomach to cure or digest that amount of 
food. Less food should be given, so that the child can 
secrete enough digestive fluid to properly cure or assimi- 
late it, and thus prevent this bad odor. Perhaps you 
may have to reduce the proportion, or even remove en- 
tirely the animal food for a few days till all bad odors 
disappear, giving only starchy diet till good digestion is 
re-established. 

Can the baby live on starchy food, Kemedies Nos. 2, 4 
and 5, alone? Yes, for a few days ; but you will have to 
flavor the rice or barley water used, with cream and 
sugar, or the infant will not take it. As the stools improve, 
the cream and milk can be slowly increased again as the 
odor of the stools allows it. 

Green Color. — What does that mean in stools? This 
color always means indigestion in the infant, whether it 



SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 383 

be the copious green watery stool of cholera infantum, 
the foul or green, pasty stool of rickets, the slimy green 
stool of dysentery, or the occasional green stool without 
other unhealthy change, in the healthy nursing infant. 
It all means that there is a lull or check in the digestive 
power, and less, different or no food should be given for 
some time. 

Watery Stool. — What does that mean? A watery 
stool may be green, slightly yellow, or almost clear in 
color. These stools are generally dangerous to the infant, 
as they indicate a poisoned condition in the infant's 
bowels. This water of these stools is the serum drawn 
from the blood. Nature is using this to dilute the poison 
and wash it out rapidly. She is in a hurry lest the child 
be poisoned, and she is using plenty of serum water to 
remove the poisonous stuff before it is absorbed into the 
blood and causes brain trouble. The danger is about in 
proportion to the size and number of the stools, as these 
infants melt away very rapidly. 

Pasty Mixed Colored Stools. — What do they indicate? 
These stools are found in unhealthy or unthrifty infants. 
Generally, these infants have been suffering from bad 
feeding and poor digestion for a long time. They are cross, 
restless, and have a yellowish bad color, and show a strong 
tendency to be rickety as they grow older. They do not 
thrive; they only exist. 

Slimy Stools. — What causes a slimy stool? If you 
have a cold in the head, you expect to have a running 
nose. This is called catarrh. The same condition exists 
in the bowel, when it is inflamed from any cause. The dis- 
charge is at first thin, but soon becomes slimy and thick, 
like that emitted from the nose. As this discharge 
becomes thicker, the inflammation subsides and the 



384 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

bowel heals. The danger here is in proportion to the 
amount of this discharge daily; not necessarily in pro- 
portion to the frequency of stools. The stools are smaller 
as they become more frequent. There may be three or 
four in an hour, but very small; or only three or four in 
the day. Unhealthy or unsuitable mother's milk, over- 
feeding or bad food, will commonly cause stools of this 
character. 

Bloody Stools. — What do these mean? Blood in the 
stools of infants goes with the slime. The stools may be 
all blood or only very little specks of blood; the rest 
being slime and a little fecal matter. This blood comes 
from the rupture of small inflamed veins in the bowels. 
In these attacks the blood appears last and disappears 
first; the slime gradually lessens after the blood stops. 
The danger here is also in proportion to the amount of 
blood lost, not the frequency of the stool. There may "be 
a stool every twenty minutes, but it is very small — only 
a teaspoonful or less. 

Gray or Clay Colored Stools. — What causes them? 
Clay colored stools indicate a sluggish liver, or an 
infant suffering from jaundice. This is seen mostly in 
children four to eight years old who have fed irregularly, 
or taken unsuitable food. They usually suffer from fever 
and loss of appetite, but recover when the fever is 
checked. These children are always costive during 
these attackSo They should be fed principally on a milk 
diet; very little starch is allowable till the fever and 
jaundice depart, and the stools show the yellow color of 
healthy milk digestion. 

Loose, Fatty Stools of a Light Color. — What are they ? 
Children having these stools fail very rapidly. They do 
not have many stools, but this fatty or oily character 



SYMPTOMS AND THEIR VALUES. 385 

shows that the food is partly digested and then thrown 
out. This loss of food and nourishment explains the 
rapid waste in the infant. Change of diet usually cures 
these cases; but it must be given in very limited quanti- 
ties until the stools are healthy in character. 

Dry, Hard Stools. — What causes them? These are 
most commonly due to an absence of fat in the food. 
Fat is the natural lubricator of the bowels, and should be 
increased in these constipated children. The diet here 
is too slack of cream or butter, and will be found com- 
posed mostly of starchy food or milk robbed of the 
cream, as in condensed milk and many proprietary foods. 
These children should be fed butter, cream, and fat of meat. 

Brownish, Watery Stools. — What is the difference 
between these and green watery stools ? 

Very little. The brown color is not common, and when 
present has branny scales floating through it. These 
stools are very offensive, showing that the bowel requires 
rapid disinfection to correct the decomposition raging in 
it. The diet must be lessened and also changed to secure 
yellow stools, and the bowel disinfected with chlorate of 
potash or carbolic acid. 

Lumpy Stools. — What causes this condition? Only a 
careful inspection in a good light will explain the char- 
acter of the lumps. Use a match to break or crush the 
lumps and see what is in them. 

White curd shows too much cheese or casein in the 
milk. Lumps of food show overfeeding at some meal. 
Small lumps of slime show a sore or inflamed spot in the 
bowel. These often look like lumps of curd till crushed, 
when they are seen to be fecal matter covered with slime, 
and usually of a yellowish-white color. This is the result 
of improper food or too much food. 

25 



386 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Can Stools be Read by the Eye Alone 9 No ; the eye, 
nose, and fingers in a bright light are all required for cor- 
rect reading of the stools and sickness. No mock modes- 
ty is here allowable, for "by their stools ye shall know them." 

Recurring Sickness. 

The disposition to returning sickness in a child is one 
of the greatest sources of annoyance to a physician. 
Experience shows him that this is liable to happen from 
different causes; but the two most common reasons are, 
unhygienic surroundings and imperfect nutrition. Of 
these two the latter is the more common and important 
factor in producing recurring sicknesses. 

Unhygienic Surroundings. — These cover anything 
objectionable in the house, or even outside of the house. 

Inside the house we find moisture the most potent 
factor. Leaky roofs, wet cellars, and broken windows 
supply the necessary moisture when added to the filthy 
dirt usually or commonly present where such dilapidation 
and neglect are seen. Children living in such surround- 
ings are liable to the worst forms of any sickness, and 
with difficulty recover, to be again taken down with 
the same or some other form of sickness. Throat, lung, 
and bowel troubles are very common, of the worst form, in 
these damp houses. When dirt is added to this it is 
difficult for children to keep well, unless they run outside 
a great deal. 

Houses placed in damp localities, where sun and wind 
cannot penetrate freely, are always unhealthy. Houses 
built on ground without cellars are not as healthy as 
those with cellars, well drained. Houses with cellars 
should be so drained that no moisture can percolate 
through the ground or walls into the cellar. All cellars 



SYMPTOxMS AND THEIR VALUES. 387 

should be -cemented, and where this does not exist the 
windows should be left open to allow perfect ventilation 
and drying at all times. Any form of moisture under a 
house is a continuous source of danger to the inmates, 
particularly to the women and small children, as they 
breathe this contaminated atmosphere nearly all the time. 
They will have frequent recurring sicknesses. 

Imperfect Nutrition. — This is the most common cause 
of recurring sicknesses in infancy. In itself it is a most 
serious sickness, as it keeps the blood current continually 
adulterated with unhealthy products of imperfect diges- 
tion, which flow continually to the brain, heart, lungs, and 
all other internal parts, keeping them in a never-ending 
disturbed condition. 

The kidneys in these cases are continually taxed in 
their efforts to purify the blood, and were it not that they 
have capacity far beyond the necessities of health, most 
of these children would die of diseases of these organs. 

These imperfectly nourished children have little natural 
resistance to sickness through the unhealthy, weak char- 
acter of their blood. They contract all the prevalent 
forms of disease, and offer little resistance to their inroads. 
The consequence is that the mortality is high in such 
cases. 

The only safety for such infants lies in a removal to the 
country, mountain, or the seaside. As these infants are 
always in more danger during warm weather, it should 
be made a rule to move them to a cooler climate. It is 
often amazing to see how rapidly delicate, poorly nour- 
ished children will improve with such a change. 
. When medicines show little lasting improvement on 
even the youngest, such a change will generally work 
marvels in the child's digestive power, and add pounds of 



388 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY/ 

good flesh to the weight where ounces could not be 
gained before by the best medicinal treatment in the city. 

Parents should always send their delicate children out 
of the city before the hot weather comes. Put them 
where little clothes and less face washing and shoes are 
required. Let them enjoy the freedom of the farm for a 
few months and such improvement will be established as 
will last for years if the pre-existing conditions are always 
afterwards avoided. 

Parents must remember that causes able to produce 
sickness once, will be able to perpetuate it; and also able 
to reproduce it in most children. 

This fact is continually disregarded, with bad results, in 
patients suffering from tuberculosis and other chronic dis- 
eases. Such patients should always be fortified, with 
cod liver oil and an iron tonic, such as Remedy No. 
60, when they are compelled to return to their original 
home. In connection with this they should live out of 
doors in the sunlight and fresh air as much as possible. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 



Cuts and Torn Wounds. 

Cuts or scratches which do not pass through the deep 
skin never gape, as the lower strong part of the skin pre- 
vents this. Generally a cut or tear of this kind will 
leave little or no scar, and only requires a clean antisep- 
tic washing and dressing, with Remedy No. 94, to make a 
perfect recovery. They should first be washed in boiled 
water, which has been allowed to cool -enough to use. 
Clean muslin or absorbent cotton should be used for this 
washing. After being thoroughly cleaned with the hot 
water, a thick pad of muslin or absorbent cotton should 
be soaked thoroughly in a boracic acid or bichloride solu- 
tion (Remedies Nos. 94 or 96) and applied on the wound 
and for an inch all around it also. Over this a thick 
layer of absorbent cotton should be placed, and all band- 
aged neatly, fastening the bandage securely, so it cannot 
slip off, thus allowing the wound to be poisoned, and de- 
lay the healing. The pad, if thick enough, will remain 
moist for half a day. When dry it may be moistened 
again, and especially should this be done if it slips off the 
wound. If properly cleaned and bandaged, small wounds 
will heal with one dressing, which need not be moved 
for three or four days. Every dressing should be treated 
the same as the first one. 

389 



390 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Wounds which gape are deeper and usually pass 
through the whole skin. These should be drawn to- 
gether by stitches to avoid scars, and require a physician 
to treat them. 

Plasters were very popular as dressings many years ago, 
but should not be used now as they are known to infect the 
wounds and cause trouble by delaying the healing process. 

Bleeding wounds generally cease when bathed with 
very hot water, as hot as can be borne. Most wounds 
cease bleeding in a few minutes by coagulation of the 
blood alone. 

Where a wound persists in bleeding, it can always be 
stopped by pressure of the fingers or by pressure from a 
muslin pad tied firmly on the wound till a physician can 
be called. Nothing is better temporarily than the fingers 
and a cotton pad when they are clean and the pad large 
enough to cover the wound. They will stop almost any 
bleeding points till they can be tied. When the wound 
is not too large the pad and banclages will always do the 
work successfully. Unless blood flows in a steady stream 
from a wound, and continues to do so after hot bathing is 
fairly tried and the wound dressed with a thick pad, 
there is no danger. Oozing or dropping of blood always 
stops in time. 

Dirty Wounds. 

These are dangerous. Lockjaw comes from wounds 
soiled by poisonous dust or earth. The poison exists in 
the ground and every care should be taken to cleanse the 
wound thoroughly with warm water and then disinfect it 
well with bichloride solution (Remedy No. 96). Fresh, 
clean cloths or absorbent cotton are best for shallow 
wounds. They should be washed out freely. Deep or 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 391 

punctured wounds should be injected well with a syringe 
and the bichloride solution before dressing them. Second 
and third dressings should be done in the same way, and 
when the wound soils the dressings, they should always 
be removed, no matter how long or short a time since 
they were applied. 

All old wounds and sores will heal rapidly if treated in 
this way with these antiseptic dressings. 

Poisoned Wounds. 

A poisoned wound is one which receives the poison at 
the time of injury. It may be any size, from the bite of 
a mosquito to the large, lacerated wound of the rabid 
dog. 

Mosquito bites are much more irritating to some people 
than others. The same applies to the sting of bees and 
and the bites of all other insects. Even in the same indi- 
vidual there is wide diversity in the irritations produced 
at different times, and in different locations. As a rule 
all stings and bites over bony parts are more painful on 
account of the density of the tissues preventing such 
easy swelling as always follows these injuries on soft parts 
of the body. Bites and stings over the eyes always cause 
swelling of the soft tissues around the eyes. Stings on 
the scalp are very painful and tender, also those on the 
back of the hand. There is no antidotal application -that 
is reliable. Careful examination of stings will often dis- 
cover the sting in the wound. It should be withdrawn. 
Any cold application will be soothing and also healing. 
Perhaps the application of carbolic or acetic acid, with a 
match or toothpick, is the most reliable antidotal and 
soothing dressing that can be used. Only a small drop 
is required. Many find benefit from the application of 



392 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

camphor spirits, or ammonia water, others have faith in 
ice water. If the child is in good health the marks and 
swellings will disappear in a couple of days. 

Bites of dogs, cats, rats and squirrels are the most com- 
mon. Dog bites are more common than all others combined, 
and are also more serious. Occasionally we hear of bad 
results from other animals, but most commonly we hear 
of these results from dog bites. Probably this is entirely 
due to their greater frequency. 

The great fear of these bites is due to the belief in 
their present and future poisonous character. Most peo- 
ple believe that a dog is rabid if he bites a child; or they 
fear he may be going that way. If not then rabid, they 
dread the possibility of his becoming so at some future 
date; and they believe that if he does become so, the child 
will also be seized in the same way. . This is, of course, 
absurd; but it is one of our inherited ideas, and cannot 
be untaught. Dogs become rabid most frequently of all 
animals, but not one-half are rabid that are so called. 
The dog should not be killed till all uncertainty about 
his condition is removed. Where a dog bites through 
clothes there is little chance of the wound being poisoned 
by his saliva, as the clothes dry the teeth and shut out all 
moisture from his mouth. Bites should be cauterized at 
once with carbolic acid or lunar caustic, after being well 
bathed with hot water and also well squeezed. 

If there is no doubt about the dog being rabid the bit- 
ten part should be cut out at once. Where this cannot 
be done the hand or limb should be well constricted with 
a rope or band above the wound, drawn as tight as pos- 
sible, till the wound can be excised, and also cauterized, 
with a red-hot iron, or strong sulphuric acid. 

Of snake bites we have little experience till we reach 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 393 

the torrid zone. Rattlesnakes are common in the tem- 
perate zone and occasionally they bite some one. The 
snake inserts the poison through a hollow tooth with the 
bite. These bites demand the same attention as a rabid 
dog's. A general belief exists in the antidotal power of 
alcohol in these cases ; consequently whisky or brandy 
is usually given at once, to the free intoxication of the 
patient. 

Punctured Wounds. 

These are made by nails, splinters, fish hooks, or other 
sharp objects. Rusty, dirty nails usually penetrate the 
feet from stepping on them. The hole left should be 
syringed out with bichloride solutions (Remedy No. 
96) every day till hoaled. 

The wounds from splinters usually heal well and quick- 
ly after the splinter is withdrawn. The same dressing 
is needed here as in wounds from nails. 

Fish hooks usually remain till withdrawn by a pair of 
forceps or cut out. Bichloride dressing is all that is 
needed afterwards. 

Broken needles are a common cause of injury in the 
foot or hand. They generally break off just under the 
skin and can be felt by pressure. Do not try to extract 
them, always send for a physician. Find the balance of 
the needle if possible, that you may be sure you have it 
all when the piece is extracted. 

Bruises. 

Bruises are very common among children. The swell- 
ing after a bruise is due to the tearing of the flesh and 
veins and the escape of blood into the bruised part. The 
swelling is always in direct proportion to the size of the 

26 



394 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

bruised tissues. Bruises over bony parts swell up im- 
mediately, and all become bluish or purple, from the 
clotted blood in them. Thus bruises on the forehead 
cause ugly deformities from this swelling, and also great 
discoloration which settles down into the soft tissues 
around the eyes, causing blackness. This effused or clot- 
ted blood cannot be removed by lancing or leeching or 
in any way artificially, When there is no break in the 
skin over the bruised part the injury is always safe and 
all swelling and discoloration will pass away in ten to 
fifteen days. Those discolorations assume all tints, from 
black to green and yellow, in the process of absorption. 

The treatment for bruises is cold applications with 
pressure, at once, to check too much bleeding under the 
skin. Where cold cannot be obtained pressure alone can 
be used with compress and bandage. Some are in favor 
of hot applications with pressure, or alcoholic dressings 
such as alcohol or extract of witch hazel. Rubbing the 
swollen part gently and continuously will assist materi- 
ally in hastening the absorption of blood and thus also 
assists in the recovery. Heavy rubbing always aggra- 
vates the swelling and soreness. 

Where bruises remain sore and painful after the first 
two days, disinfecting lotion (Remedy No. 94) should be 
applied hot and renewed or moistened often enough to 
prevent drying. The sore or bruised part should always 
be elevated. This facilitates the circulation and assists 
the cure. 

Dislocations and Fractures. 

Dislocations are caused by a force able to tear the lig- 
aments tying the bones together. A dislocation follows 
the most extremely torn ligaments, thus allowing the bones 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 395 

to pass from their usual positions of uniformity and make 
the joint very deformed and useless. They must be cor- 
rected and also treated by a physician. After reduction 
they should be treated like a severe sprain. 

Fractures in children are very common on account of 
the weakness of their bones. Those of the forearm and 
collar bone are most frequent. The bones of children 
often break like a green stick, only one side being broken 
and the balance bent. These cause crookedness, and 
usually appear in the arms, as these are the bones which 
bend most. 

Fractures always require good medical attention to pre- 
serve the shape and length of the fractured part. Until 
the physician arrives the broken limb may be tied up in a 
pillow, or, in case of the leg, to the opposite limb, to keep 
it quiet and avoid the severe pain coming from any motion. 

Sprains. 

These occur mostly in the joints; and more frequently 
in. the ankle than in any other part of the body. A 
sprain is caused by the force tearirrg more or less of the 
ligamentous fibers which bind the bones together in 
forming the joint. If only a few fibers are strained we 
have little swelling or pain, and the joint is well again in 
a few days. If, on the contrary, many fibers are torn 
and ligaments severed completely, we have a very serious 
condition, great swelling, discoloration, and pain, with 
heat in the part injured. Such a sprain will require 
weeks or perhaps months for a recovery, and is worse 
than a fracture. We have all degrees of severity between 
those two extremes of injury. 

The treatment in sprains should be referred to a physi- 
cian. While slight injuries will recover with any treat- 



396 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

ment, severe ones will cause suffering and lameness under 
the best treatment. Cold or hot applications should be 
used freely and long, according as they are comfortable 
to the patient. The injured part should always be ele- 
vated, and rubbed upward every day. Generally a mod- 
erately tight bandage can be worn with comfort. When 
the first painful symptoms subside, chloroform or soap 
liniment should be applied, and well rubbed into the skin. 
Exercise of the joint is necessary in the treatment, to 
preserve the motion and hasten the recovery. Many of 
these joints remain stiff for a long time after the patient 
has recovered, consequently regular motion should 
daily be obtained in sprains as early as the pain will 
allow it. 

Snoring— Mouth-breathing. 

Snoring is caused by the air passing through the 
mouth into the lungs instead of going through the nose. 
This may be due to the habit of keeping the mouth open 
while sleeping; or it may be due to necessity, on account 
of enlarged tonsils, or catarrhal trouble closing the nos- 
trils while lying down, even when they are clear when 
the child is running around. 

When a child without any catarrhal obstruction snores, 
it usually lies on its back. It seldom snores while lying 
on the side.- Such cases are corrected by turning them 
over, or gently closing the mouth while sleeping. Catar- 
rhal cases require the diseased or enlarged tonsils removed 
and the nose regularly douched with Remedy No. 95^, to 
cleanse the nose and check the discharge. Such children 
do not thrive or develop while suffering from these 
obstructions. Usually such cases also suffer from adenoids 
in the posterior nose, which require removal. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 397 

Nose Bleeding. 

This is a common habit with some children, and returns 
regularly without any apparent cause. Other children 
never have it without a blow or other injury on the nose. 
Usually the flow of blood is slight and does little harm, 
if any; many think it is an advantage to strong, robust 
children, as it relieves them of headache, dizziness, or 
sleepiness. Occasionally it is too prolonged and the child 
becomes pale and faint. -In the healthy, strong children 
it stops after a few minutes without any assistance. Where 
it does not cease of itself, cold applications to the nose, 
pushing small lumps of ice up the nose, sitting erect or 
snuffing an astringent wash (Remedy No. 101) up the 
nose will generally check the flow. Children should not 
blow the nose, as this perpetuates the bleeding. While 
lying on the back the blood flows down into the throat 
and is swallowed or causes nausea. This causes no dam- 
age and can be avoided by keeping the face downward. 

When a child is feverish and the nose bleeds every day 
or two, we suspect an attack of typhoid fever as the cause 
of these returns. 

An impoverished condition of the blood, or a diseased 
heart or liver, may cause repeated nose bleeding also. 
Occasionally poorly fed infants will become scorbutic and 
have nose bleeding as a symptom. 

In these obstinate cases the flow of blood may be 
checked by pressing the upper lip close under the nose. 
The pressure must be steady and cover all the lip imme- 
diately under the nose. Plugs of absorbent cotton soaked 
in strong tannine water (Remedy No. 101) may be 
pressed far up the nose, but in cases as severe as this the 
physician should be called, as it may be necessary to plug 
the nose behind and in front in order to check the hem- 



398 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

orrhage. After these severe attacks attention should be 
given to the dietary and all constitutional ailments, so as 
to secure protection against a repetition. When the blood 
is diluted by much bleeding it is likely to flow easily 
again, and requires attention at once to thicken and 
strengthen it. The physician will attend to this condition. 

Burns and Scalds. 

These destroy the skin, and are dangerous in propor- 
tion to the size and depth of the part destroyed. Burns 
are caused by fire or heated metals, scalds are produced 
by heated liquids, water mostly. Light burns from 
flame may be very extensive but usually are not deep; 
scalds from water or steam are often the same. In these 
the danger is in proportion to the amount of skin and 
nerve terminals destroyed. Where dangerous these 
patients usually die in two or three days. Deep burns 
are not usually so extensive, they are mostly caused by 
molten metals falling into the shoes. These are painful 
but not usually dangerous. Burns produced by the 
clothes being on fire are usually very serious: most of 
these patients die. 

The treatment in these injuries demands the immediate 
exclusion of air to control the pain. It will be successful 
in proportion to its complete application. The simplest 
way is always to immerse the burned part in tepid or 
cool water till the proper dressings are prepared. Where 
extensively burned, kindness demands putting the patient 
into the bath tub, and covering all burns with the water 
of a comfortable temperature. There is no virtue in 
any first dressing for these injuries, save the com- 
fortable temperature and total exclusion of air. If . 
it were possible to remain in the bath tub or to keep the 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 399 

burned part immersed in water of a comfortable tempera- 
ture, all the time, there is no treatment known that would 
relieve pain so perfectly, make so little scarring in the 
healing process, or save so many lives. As this can 
always be applied temporarily by using soft wet cloths 
freely, this gives care and comfort till the physician arrives. 

A mother should not undertake the care of any burns 
or scalds except the small ones; and to properly care for 
these she must understand the principles of the treat- 
ment. That treatment is most successful which is clean- 
est and most comfortable. 

Cleanest dressings means to use such cloths, lotions, 
and applications as are clean themselves, and do not 
decompose and become filthy, thus causing bad odors, 
when applied for half or a whole day at a time. 

Comfortable dressings are those which are easily 
applied, are not too hot, do not become dry, never stick 
to. the sores, and are easily removed. 

I know of only one dressing which meets all these indi- 
cations, and that is the saline solution, Remedy No. 95-|, 
which is composed of one teaspoonful of common salt and 
one pint of boiled water. This strength of salt is the 
same as is in the blood, and causes no smarting when 
applied. Oldclean muslin, such as underclothing or gauze 
cloths of several thicknesses, should be dipped in this 
solution and spread evenly over the sores in several 
layers, and over these oiled or paraffine paper should be 
applied, to prevent evaporation and drying, and all bound 
on with a bandage. Care should be observed to make 
the cloths thick enough only for comfort and to retain the 
moisture. When too heavy they cause pain and smarting 
in the sores, from too great heat. This is a common 
error and should be avoided. The same rule applies to 



400 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. ' 

all dressings, batting, etc., which are so commonly used in 
these cases. Remember not to increase the injury by too 
much or too warm dressing of any kind. All oils, oint- 
ments, soda, flour, and powders dry and stick to the sores, 
thus causing pain, filth and decomposition, as well as 
injury in being removed. The salt water dressing can be 
moistened regularly and changed frequently, thus keeping 
the burns and scalds clean, moist, and comfortable. Not 
the least important feature in caring for these injuries, is 
to have a dressing which will secure rapid healing and lit- 
tle if any, scarring of the skin. There is no application 
equal to the saline solution in this respect. 

All blisters and loose skin should at first be preserved 
without injury. At the second dressing those blisters 
should be pricked, but no skin removed. Every effort 
should be made to preserve the natural covering as long as 
it shows any life, but it should be removed when it is loose, 
and harbors secretions under it that the saline solution 
can not remove. Burns caused by acid should be washed 
off well with water and then dressed with cloths soaked 
in baking soda water, to neutralize the acid still remain- 
ing in the wound. 

Burns caused by lye or alkalies of any kind require 
immediate treatment with vinegar and water, to neutralize 
the alkalies. Cloths soaked in this should be used to wash 
the sore part. These sores can be dressed with oxide of 
zinc ointment (Remedy No. 80) after removing the first 
dressings of vinegar water, as the caustic power of the 
lye or alkelies will then be destroyed. 

Foreign Bodies in the Ear. 

Children commonly push buttons, beads or other small 
obiects into the ear. These are difficult to remove and 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 401 

should not be touched till a suitable instrument can be 
made to remove them. The mother should take her finest 
hair pin and slightly curve the bent end (Figure 44) of it, so 



Figure 44. Curved hair pin for removing foreign objects from nose or ear. 

she can slip it in over the object, and hook it out. The round 
or bent end of a thin hair pin cannot hurt anything in the 
ear; slips in easily over the foreign body and makes an ad- 
mirable double hook for this purpose. Where this effort is 
unsuccessful a stream of warm water from a fountain 
syringe should be run into the ear. This will always dis- 
lodge insects, and light objects, as they float on the water. 
A small stream from a pitcher will serve the purpose, 
where there is no fountain syringe. 

As these foreign bodies can go only one-half to three- 
quarters of an inch into the ear, there is seldom any dan- 
ger if they remain there till a physician can be seen. 

Foreign Bodies in the Nose. 

Children are continually shoving toys and small objects 
up the nose. These do little harm if removed soon, but 
where they are pushed up far and lodge beyond sight, 
small objects like seeds, buttons or beads may remain and 
cause continuous discharge resembling a bad catarrh. 
Where this discharge comes from only one side of the 
nostril and is continuous for weeks, the nose should be 
carefully inspected by a physician, Objects that can be 
seen should be removed with the curved hair pin as is done 
in the ear (Figure 44) . To do this successfully the mother 
should sit facing a window or open door and have an as- 
sistant sit before her but backing the light. * The child 



402 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



should be placed between them on its back with its head 
resting between the mother's knees. The assistant holds 
the child's hands and rests its back on her lap. The 
light now shines into the nose and allows the bent hair 
pin to be slipped fully over the foreign body and it is 
easily hooked out. As the head must be kept absolutely 
quiet to be successful in doing this, no effort should be 
made till all preparations are complete, and then the first 
trial will be successful. In this position the mother's left 
hand, pressed down firmly on the forehead, 
keeps the nose absolutely quiet and pre- 
vents injury. A mother can in this way 
extract any object she can see. She must 
be sure to pass the bent hair pin well over 
the object. A little bleeding always fol- 
lows this removal, but it is not dangerous. 
Where foreign bodies are pushed tooiar 
up to be easily reached, they may be shoved 
over into the throat with safety by a phy- 
sician, but parents should never attempt to 
remove any object when far back from the 
entrance of the nose. 

Tickling the nose with a feather or snuf- 
fing up pepper or snuff may cause sneez- 
ing, and thus dislodge many small objects 
from the nose. 

By fastening a piece of small, soft rub- 
ber tubing to the nozzle of a soft rubber 
,. syringe (Figure 45), foreign objects can be 
SJjeSf fr°om e \ g h" removed from both nose and ear. The tube 
nose or ear. ig s ^pp e( j d own to the object and then the 

bulb expanded and withdrawn quickly. This sucks the 
object to the tube and it can easily be removed. 




ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 



403 



Removing Foreign Objects from the Eye. 

. In adults pieces of steel, emery and dirt are driven 
from machinery with great force against the eye. Fre- 
quently these pieces are red hot and bury themselves in 
the dark cornea where it is difficult to see them, except 
in bright daylight. Particles of all kinds are invisible 
in the dark part of the cornea by gas or lamp light; but 
they can be easily seen on all other parts of the eye. 
Usually the tears will wash small particles out, but when 
they fail to do this, the mother can do it herself with 
the corner of her handkerchief by everting the lids. 
Loose particles usually stick to the lids, 

The lower half of the eye is easily seen by pulling the 
lower lid well down while the child is looking upward. 
One finger pressed firmly on the skin below the eye will 
pull the lower lid down effectually. 

The upper half is the most difficult to examine. By 




Figure 46. Everting the upper lid. 

grasping the upper lash firmly with the thumb and fin- 
ger the lid can be pulled freely out and down low over 
the lower lash, when it should be pressed in over it, 
released, and allowed to draw itself up to its natural posi- 
tion. In this move the lower lash will wipe particles off 
of the inside of the lower part of the upper lid. 



404 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY 

When this move does not give relief, the mother should 
again grasp the upper lash and draw it out far from the 
eye, while it is looking downwards. She should then press 
the center of the lid well down with a match and carry 
the lash up over the match, thus turning the lid out 
(Figure 46). 

This manceuver will expose the lining of the upper half 
of the eye and enable all foreign objects to be easily seen. 

Commonly after an eye has been irritated in this way 
by some substance, nothing can be seen but a generally 
inflamed and teary condition. In these cases the eye 
should be well bathed with boric acid solution, Rem- 
edy No. 94, twice daily. Bathing with hot water alone, 
with shading from the light will generally relieve the 
irritation in twenty-four hours. Where relief is not com- 
plete a physician should be consulted. 

Where sharp objects strike the eye and cause any 
bleeding or roughness a physician should be consulted 
at once, as very little wounds are dangerous to the sight. 
All penetrating wounds are serious and require the best 
medical skill to avoid blindness. Sudden blows on the 
eye from balls or other objects often cause hemorrhage 
in the eye and consequent loss of sight. 

Swallowing Foreign Bodies. 

The -habit of putting buttons, marbles, pennies, and 
other small objects in the mouth often makes a child swal- 
low one of them. This generally causes great alarm to 
the mother. As long as the child complains of no pain 
in swallowing the object, this shows plenty of room for 
it to pass into the stomach, and nature has so propor- 
tioned the body that what the stomach can receive eas- 
ily, it can dispose of on just as easy terms. I have never 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 405 

seen any harm arise from small objects swallowed in this 
way. When damage arises it shows by checking the 
object in the throat or esophagus and is accompanied by 
pain or hurting at that point. The fear of poisoning 
from pennies swallowed is groundless. The anxiety 
caused by swallowing a pin does not seem to be justified. 
The pin is generally never heard from again. It travels 
downward with the other stomach contents according to 
nature's plan, and no efforts should be made with emetics 
or cathartics to hasten the removal of it or any other 
object accidentally swallowed. 

Fishbones, pins and other things which stick in the 
throat and cause pain or pricking should be withdrawn 
carefully, with the finger. Sometimes by reversing the 
child head downward, and slapping vigorously on the 
back the object will drop out. If it can not be removed 
and continues to cause pain and nausea a physician should 
be called in. Sometimes small objects can be forced 
downward by making the child swallow a large mouthful of 
food at once. , This dilates the tube and sweeps the walls as 
it passes along. Fishbones are often removed in this way. 

Drowning. 

An occasional mother is unfortunate enough to need 
knowledge on this point; and all mothers should study 
the application of means for resuscitating the drowned. 
They should occasionally put these movements into prac- 
tice on a child, so as to be familiar with them when 
needed. Drowning is one form of suffocation, and this 
can only exist a short time before the heart is overpowered 
. with poisoned blood and ceases to beat. Also this pois- 
oned blood soon becomes cold from contact with the cold 
water and this paralyses the heart muscle, thus again 



406 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



checking its action. So we see there are two factors 
checking or stopping the action of the heart in drown- 
ing. 

Promptness is imperative to restore activity in a 
drowned individual. First drain the water out of the 




Figure 47. Sylvester method, first movement. 

lungs dv turning the child on the face and then lift the 
body up at the waist so that the mouth is the lowest part. 




^2 



Figure 48. Second movement. 



By putting the arms around the lower part of the chest 
and then lifting we compress the chest and assist in 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 407 

forcing the water outwards. While doing this others 
should rub him dry quickly and secure heat of any kind 
to warm the body, while one endeavors to establish breath- 
ing. If the heart beats this can be done usually by the 
Sylvester method. Turn the child on the back, place a 
folded coat or roll under the shoulders, with the head 
falling back and downwards ; pull out the tongue so as 
to give space for the air to enter, and wrap a cloth around 
it with which to hold it out; grasp the arms and pull 
them up above the head, as in Figure 47, then swing them 
down along the floor or ground against the sides with firm 
pressure against the ribs; as in Figure 48. Repeat these 
motions above the head and down again every three or 
four seconds in imitation of natural breathing, which is 
about eighteen to twenty times per ininute= All means of 
heating should be continued vigorously, while the efforts 
at breathing are followed for an hour or two, or as long 
as there is the least vestige of life. The upward strong 
pull draws the air into the lung and the downward firm 
pressure against the ribs expels it again. 

Brisk rubbing up towards the heart should be followed 
steadily to assist in moving the blood in that direction. 
Spatting the body with the hand or a hot wet cloth, 
smelling of salts, and elevating the legs all aid in the 
resuscitation. Great perseverance and some stimulating 
with ammonia or brandy are needed, even when breathing 
has returned, in order to keep the heart moving. 

Concussion of the Brain. 

The violent exercise and impetuosity of children leaves 
them continually exposed to danger. This affects all 
parts of the body ; but in no part does this become more 
serious than in injuries to the head. This is particularly 



403 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



evident with children who play on paved streets. Every 
fall or collision is dangerous there and likely to cause 
concussion of the brain. 

When a child is rendered insensible from a fall or 
blow, it is called concussion of the brain. When the in- 
sensibility lasts only a few minutes the child will prob- 
ably be well next day; but when it lasts some hours, the 
child will probably not be free from headache for some 
days or even weeks. Where the child does not recover 
at once, a physician should be called. These patients 
must be kept cool and quiet till all evidences of tender- 
ness pass away. If the head feels hot, an ice bag may be 
applied to relieve this sensation, and prevent inflamma- 
tion of the brain. These patients should receive very 
little food till they are free from the headache. 

Ivy Poisoning. 

This term is applied to the poisonous irritation pro- 
duced by ivy, and all plants and weeds which irritate the 
skin. The irritation causes redness, swelling and intense 
itching or pain in the parts ex- 
posed to the poison. Frequently 
the hand becomes poisoned and 
conveys the virus to other parts 
of the body, thus covering the 
face also. The swelling is rapid 
and the redness looks bad enough 
to suggest erysipelas. When in 
the face, it nearly closes the eyes, 
and causes great disfiguration, 
like erysipelas. A close examina- 
tion shows the surface covered 

Figure 49. Poison ivy. ^ innumerable gmall ves icleS, 





ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 409 

pin head or larger in size. These rupture and dry up as 
the swelling passes away at the 
end of three or four days. The 
vesicles indicate the ivy poison 

The ivy is a three -leaved, waxy, 
and highly colored climbing plant. 
(Figure 49) usually seen on the 
sides of trees, and by some called 
" poison oak." Having only three 
small leaves in a cluster makes it 
easy to distinguish from all the 
ordinary house creepers, which are FigU r e 50. House creeper. 
mostly five-leaved (Figure 50). 

Melted lard and tallow of equal parts makes a soothing 
dressing and secures early healing. Liquid applications 
are not well suited to this eruption. Oxide of zinc one 
part and lard five parts may also be applied as a soothing 
and healing ointment. 

Poisons. 

As druggists are compelled by law to keep all poison- 
ous remedies labelled poison, and placed so that acci- 
dental mistakes can not or will not occur, so should every 
mother carefully study the use and position of every poi- 
sonous substance in her house. She should see to it that 
they are clearly marked poison, also; and that no person 
has the opportunity to disturb these regulations, or to use 
the poisonous articles either medicinally or domestically 
without her knowledge. She owes these regulations to 
herself, she owes them to her servants, but especially does 
she owe these precautions to her innocent little children, 
who are most likely to be the sufferers from her care- 
lessness or her neglect. In nine cases out of every ten 



410 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



of poisoning from household errors, some little child is 
the sufferer. 

Each mother should adopt a general way of marking 
every poison, besides putting the word poison on the bot- 
tle or container. This marking should be such that an 
error can not be made, even in the dark, by those con- 
versant with the mark. Perhaps nothing answers this 
purpose better than fastening a little piece of brass wire 
chain around the neck of the bottle and leaving it long 
enough to hang low down on the sides. 
This will warn every one, even in the 
dark, that this article contains poison, and 
will make them cautious. In domestic 
use lye, either liquid or concentrated, is 
much used. My experience has been that 
most domestic poisoning occurs through 
the use of this article. The liquid, left a 
few minutes on the table, is mistaken for 
water, and swallowed by the child; the 
fragment of solid lye, chipped and drop- 
ped on the floor, resembling sugar icing 
or candy to the little one, is swallowed or 
attempted, and the result in either form is 
ruinous. If it does not kill at once, it will in the course 
of a year or two. It is always better if the end comes 
quickly for these little ones. 

The treatment for poisoning is dilution first; emetics 
second; and antidotes third. 

For dilution give all the water or milk the child can be 
forced to drink. This dilution delays absorption of poi- 
sons in the stomach and reduces the caustic power of 
acids and alkalies (lye, ammonia, etc.). For emetics 
use Remedy No. 52, freely till vomiting follows ; or, 




Figure 51. Marked 
by a chain to 
show it contains 
poison. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 411 

better, run your finger or a teaspoon handle down the 
child's throat, retaining it there till vomiting follows; or, 
better still, give the emetics and use the finger or spoon 
handle in ten to fifteen minutes afterwards. 

As an antidote there is, perhaps, nothing better than 
JeauneVs General Antidote (Remedy No. 51). This 
remedy meets arsenic, digitalis, zinc and acids success- 
fully, and also materially checks the power of morphine, 
strychnine and copper. It must be given freely, and 
soothing drinks also, such as milk, egg white, mucilage, 
flour and water, slippery elm water, barley water, or flax- 
seed tea. Always give the drink you have at hand, not 
waiting to prepare one. 

In all poisoning, while the drinks, emetics, and anti- 
dotes are used, the general condition of the child should 
receive attention, as follows: 

For coldness and pain, apply heat freely. 

For weakness arid paleness, give whisky or brandy. 

For exhaustion, put the child in bed, except where 
opium, morphine, laudanum, paregoric, chloral, and all 
drugs or poisons that cause sleep are the poison sus- 
pected. These cases must not be allowed in bed nor even 
to sleep, as these aid the poisonous effect. They must be 
kept awake, and walking, if possible. In all cases of 
poisoning the physician should be called first, and then 
all efforts made to relieve, as directed in the following list 
of poisons, until he arrives. 



412 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Table of Poisons, Antidotes and Treatment. 



Poisons. 


Antidotes. 


Treatment. 


Acids— Acetic, hydrochloric, 
sulphuric, nitric. 


Soda, chalk, magne- 
sia, soap, whiting. 


Soothing drinks first.and 
sweet oil freely afterward. 


Acid carbolic, creasote. 


Epsom salts, fixed 
oils. 


Water freely as a drink. 


Acid oxalic, salts of lemon. 


Lime or magnesia. Drinks and emetics. 


Aconite. 


Digitalis, stimulants. Stimulate ; emetics; lower 
the head. 


Alcohol, whisky or brandy. 




Emetics, cold to the head, 
heat to the feet and body, 
artificial respiration. 


Alkalies: — Ammonia, lye, 
caustic potash. 


Acids, lemon juice, 
vinegar water. 


Soothing drinks, milk, etc., 
first, then vaseline or 
sweet oil after. 


Antimony, tartar emetic. 


Tannic acid, vege 
table acids. 


Drinks freely, and castpr oil 
afterwards. 


Arsenic, Rat poison, Fow- 
ler's solution, Paris green. 


Jeaunel's antidote, 
emetics freely. 


Egg white and milk first, 
sweet oil and castor oil 
last. 


Atropine. 


Tannic acid freely. 


Emetics, cold to the head, 
coffee, heat and stimulants. 


Belladonna (see Atropine). 






Blue stone, blue vitriol. 


Emetic, egg white, 
yellow prussiate 
of potash. 


Jeaunel's antidote, then milk 
and soothing drinks. 


Carbolic acid. 


Fixed oils. 


Hot water freely. 


Chloral. 


Permanganate o f 
potash, four to 
five grains every 
half hour. Emet- 
ics at first, if seen 
early. 


Keep child awake with walk- 
ing, slapping or cold 
douche. 


Chloroform, inhaled. 




Inverted position (head 
down), cold douche, arti- 
ficial respiration. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 413 

Table of Poisons, Antidotes and Treatment— Continued. 



Poisons. 


Antidotes. 


Treatment. 


Copper, blue stone, blue vit 
riol, verdigris (see Blue 
stone). 






Corrosive sublimate. 


Milk or egg white. 


Emetics, soothing drinks, 
tannic acid and water, 
castor oil. 


Fowler's solution (see Arsen- 
ic). 






Gas, inhalations. 




Fresh air, ccld douche, am- 
monia to the nostrils, fric- 
tions. 


Iodine. 


Starch or flour with 
water. 


Emetics, drinks. 


Laudanum (see Chloral). 






Lead (sugar of lead). 


Epsom salts. 


Emetics, drinks, and castor 
oil. 


Morphine (see Chloral). 
Opium (see Chloral) 
Paregoric (see Chloral). 
Paris Green (see Arsenic). 






Phosphorus, Matches and 
some rat poisons. 


Sulphate of copper, 
two grains in 
water every ten 
to fifteen minutes, 
for free vomiting. 


Purgatives, Epsom salts or 
castor oil. 


Poisonous plants, tobacco, 
mushrooms, etc. 




Emetics, strong coffee, 
brandy, heat to the ex- 
tremities, artificial res- 
piration. 


Nitrate of silver, (lunar 
caustic). 


Table salt. 


Emetics, milk, or egg whites. 


Spoiled food. 




Emetics, cathartics. 


Strychnine, Nux vomica. 


Bromide of potash 
and water. 


Emetics, tannic acid and 
chloral as needed for 
spasms. 


Tartar emetic(see Antimony). 







414 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Convulsions, Spasms, Epilepsy. 

This is a condition in which the head loses conscious- 
ness and control over the rest of the nervous system. 
The result is that the whole muscular system is relaxed 
and contracted in a violently spasmodic way. Previous 
to these attacks except in epilepsy the child is usually com- 
plaining of being cold or feverish, and those watching him 
notice an unusual nervousness, restlessness, trembling of 
the hands, squinting of the eyes, or heaviness which are 
foreign to the child. Presently he cries out, and becomes 
stiff ; soon the face becomes dark, from this stiffness pre- 
venting breathing; and this is followed by a violent twitch- 
ing and jerking of the whole body, with frothing from 
the mouth and noisy snoring breathing. 

Where children have teeth this frothing at times is 
mixed with blood from the tongue, which has been bitten. 
This convulsive condition passes away in one to five 
minutes, and is followed by a deep sleep of half an hour 
or more, when in favorable cases the child wakes up in a 
natural and intelligent condition. 

This is the usual course followed by children, and may 
be due to overeating, fever from any cause, the chilly 
state of a commencing sickness, pneumonia, dysentery, 
rheumatism or acute indigestion. 

These cases usually recover and show no bad results from 
the attack, but are likely to have a repetition at any time 
under like circumstances till they are two to three years old. 

Rickety children, those teething, nervous children, 
those with whooping cough, and those very greedy are 
most likely to suffer in this way. Some children have a 
convulsion every time they are sick from any cause, so 
much so is this the case, that the mother is usually able 
to tell when it is coming. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 415 

Convulsions are more common in hot weather than in 
cold weather. Where a child vomits freely in an attack 
it recovers quickly, and becomes natural. 

Where a child does not become soft and natural after 
the convulsion, but remains stiff, with the thumbs drawn 
into the palm, and does not recognize the voice of its 
mother or any person, it will usually have the convulsion 
repeated indefinitely for hours. 

The first or single spasm cases are reflex ones and not 
dangerous, because they are not due to any change in 
the brain itself. The disturbance is merely a nervous 
one, and passes off quickly with the vomiting or reduc- 
tion of the fever by a bath. 

The second or repeated spasm cases, with stiffness be- 
tween and continued lack of recognition or intelligence, 
are mostly due to actual changes in the brain. These cases 
are very dangerous indeed. The majority of them die, and 
those recovering are likely to have paralysis of one leg 
or arm, or most likely of both. 

This paralysis usually decreases as the child con- 
valesces, but is very likely to leave some traces or marks 
on the child. These usually show in deafness, loss of 
speech, mental impairment, a weak leg or a small arm. 
The longer the child remains sick the less likely it is to 
be perfect on recovery. 

Children in convulsions are usually too warm. They 
are suffering from fever and this should be reduced as 
quickly as possible, never waiting for the arrival of the 
physician. The mother should strip the child at once, 
and bathe it in any water she has, whether that be hot or 
cold. If hot the child should be placed down in the 
bath, with cold water to the head. This hot water should 
not be over 90 degrees, and would properly be called 



416 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

warm. Free rubbing should be applied in the water and 
cold kept constantly to the head. While in the water 
the spasm will stop in favorable cases. 

Where there is no 5 warm water, the mother should use 
cold water in a basin with a good large wash cloth, going 
over the whole body rapidly and often till the child is 
cooled down and the convulsion stops. 

These children should then be wrapped in a blanket 
•with cold to the head and heat to the feet. As soon as 
they can swallow, a dose of Remedy No. 54, should be 
given every hour or two till they are quiet and sleeping. 

Where a child does not become natural after a sleep, it 
should receive the most careful medical attention if it 
has not received it before. 

Epilepsy is a repetition of this convulsed condition 
without any fever, chills, or vomiting, but the usual sleep 
afterward, The child just has a fit without any appar- 
ent reason for it or premonitory symptoms of sickness, 
save a slight change of manner, only noticeable by the. 
mother. Where epilepsy appears early, as in the first 
year the children usually die, and this is true particu- 
larly of the youngest cases. There is little or no treat- 
ment successful in epilepsy. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



Infection and Contagion. 

The thoughtless use of these words at times creates 
confusion by giving wrong impressions. A disease, 
.may be infectious but not contagious. Malaria is an 
evidence of this. Infection means an ability to enter the 
body from any source — wind, water, food, or other person 
— and produce a characteristic disease. The agency of 
doing this is known as a germ, and may be fresh or old. 

Contagion is properly a poisoning of one individual 
from contact with a diseased individual in some way 
known or unknown. The contagion may be conveyed 
indirectly through clothes or other person; but always 
comes from some person sick of the same disease. A 
disease may be both infectious and contagious. Nearly 
all the epidemic diseases of infancy are both infectious 
and contagious and accompanied by fever. Perhaps 
whooping cough is the single exception to this, as it is 
not acccompanied by fever. 

Infectious Diseases. 

In nursing children suffering from infectious diseases, 

the mother or nurse should avoid their breath, and 

handle them as little as possible. Here, particularly, lap 

nursing is injurious to the child and dangerous to the 

27 417 



418 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

nurse. All excretions should fall into disinfecting solu- 
tions of copperas, chlorine or mercury (Remedies, Nos. 
113, 114, 116), and be emptied into the sewer or 
buried, to avoid infecting other persons. These patients 
require regular washing with soap and warm water at 
least once each day. 

Great care must be exercised to keep the hands washed 
after handling these infectious patients, so as not to infect 
the food, eyes, mouth or any small sores on the skin. 
Here mothers and nurses cannot be too careful, parti- 
cularly in diphtheritic and scarlatinal cases. 

The particular nursing requisite, of course, depends on 
the disease, but general principles are applicable to all. 

The diet must be reduced in proportion to the severity 
of the fever. No solid food is safe in severe cases. 

Cold drinks are allowable to all, in small quantities 
frequently repeated, provided there is no vomiting. 

Frequent washing with tepid or cool water reduces 
fever and secures sleep. The more these cases sleep the 
better they progress, as long as there is no irritation of 
the brain. 

Always begin the treatment by giving a dose of castor 
oil or some other laxative, to empty the bowels freely. 
This avoids secondary fever, from indigestion of the food 
lying in the stomach when the sickness commenced. 

In nursing cases suspected of smallpox, those attend- 
ing should be vaccinated at once; and in cases of diph- 
theria, recent experience shows that attendants are safe 
from this infection when treated with small doses of anti- 
toxin. Experience also shows that there is no harm or 
danger arising from the use of this remedy. 

When antitoxin was first introduced, great opposition 
was presented in many quarters to its use; but 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



419 



statistics show nothing injurious traceable to it. The 
writer has used it twice to immunize all the children in 
the Detroit Protestant Orphan Asylum, where there are 
usually over ninety present. Formerly an outbreak there 
numbered from twenty to thirty cases of diphtheria 
before we eradicated the infection from the building. 
Now, by immunization with small doses of antitoxin, we 
check the epidemic at once, and avoid the fatal results 
that always followed all other forms of treatment. 

Table of Infectious Diseases. 



Disease. 



Incubation 
Lasts. 



Date of charac- 
teristic Symp- 
tom. 



Whole Duration. 



Mumps 

Whooping cough. . . 

Diphtheria 

Erysipelas 

Varioloid ? 

Chicken-pox 

German measles 

Measles . . . . * 

Scarlet fever 

Typhoid fever 

Smallpox 



7 to 20 days. 

2 to 7 days. 
1 to 12 days. 

3 to 8 days. 
10 to 13 days. 
12 to 17 days. 

1 to 3 weeks. 
12 to 14 days. 

1 to 7 days. 

2 weeks 

10 to 14 days. 



1st day 

7th to 14th day. 
1st to 2d day. . . 
1st to 2d day. . . 
1st to 3d day. . . 

1st day 

1st day 

4th day 

1st or 2d day. . . 
7th or 8th day. . 
3d to 4th day. . . 



1 week or less. 

2 months. 

1 week to 1 month. 
1 to 3 weeks. 

1 to 2 weeks. 
4 to 7 days. 

3 to 4 days. 
7 to 9 days. 
7 to 12 days. 
3 to 5 weeks. 

2 to 4 weeks. 



Smallpox and Varioloid. 

This is the most contagious, most malignant, and most 
repugnant of all the contagious diseases. Fortunately we 
do not require to consider it here. Thanks to the protec- 
tive power of vaccine, neither parents nor physicians are 
called to contend with its repulsive presence. It behoves 



420 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

all parents to enjoy this blessing to the utmost, by giving 
their children and themselves the protection which fresh 
bovine vaccine affords. Certainly, successful vaccination 
is a perfect safeguard against smallpox. 

The duration of the power of vaccine in each individual 
is unknown. In every epidemic of smallpox some persons 
who were vaccinated many years before are likely to 
contract smallpox in a mild form, called varioloid. These 
people nearly always recover, as they have the disease in 
a mild modified form. In fact, most of them are very 
little sick indeed and recover early. 

To avoid varioloid it is necessary that vaccination be 
repeated every five to seven years. When this is done 
the vaccine virus works on some but not on others. 
Those who show vigorous action of vaccine a second time 
would probably contract smallpox if exposed to it. 

Those exposed to the contagion of smallpox will sicken 
with the disease in ten to fourteen days. The eruption 
usually appears on the third day of sickness and the 
intensity of the first fever and pains, particularly those in 
the back, will indicate the severity of the attack. 

A person exposed to smallpox should always be 
vaccinated at once, in order to obtain the protective or 
modifying power of the vaccine, before the virus of 
smallpox culminates in an attack of the disease. 

German Measles ; Rotheln ; Rubeola. 

This is one of the contagious diseases of childhood. In 
appearance it resembles measles and from this fact has 
been commonly called German or Dutch measles. It is 
a very mild disease, with very light fever generally, or 
even none. There is little warning of its approach, and 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 421 

often the rash is the only evidence that the child shows 
of any form of sickness. 

The rash lasts from one to three days, but in the great 
majority of cases it has disappeared on the second day 
without any desquamation following it. In some epi- 
demics the tendency is to a longer duration of the erup- 
tion. 

The period of incubation is uncertain, but may stretch 
from one to three weeks after exposure. 

There is little treatment needed, as most of the chil- 
dren show little sickness, and enjoy a good appetite all 
the time. Avoidance of exposure to cold is the main 
necessity, and with this protection no other treatment is 
needed in most cases. The rash generally disappears as 
rapidly as it came. It is always a coarse one, like that 
in measles. 

Ohickenpox ; Varicella. 

This is perhaps the simplest and mildest of epidemic 
diseases of childhood. It occurs but once in each case, 
is contagious, very common, and resembles mild varioloid. 
It is characterized by mild, light fever and large bulbs or 
vesicles almost the size of a split pea scattered sparcely 
'over the skin. There may not be a half dozen on the 
child, and there may be hundreds. They are reddish 
gray and appear on the face and head first, one crop fol- 
lowing another and showing early on the body. They 
are filled with clear liquid, which soon turns yellowish, 
and then they break and dry up, leaving no scars unless 
large and irritated by the fingers. The patients are usu- 
ally well in a week, but the scars may last much longer. 

Little treatment is required. Other children who 
have not had the disease should be excluded. The child 



422 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

should be kept in and fed lightly on ordinary food. Large 
vesicles on the face, when yellow should be pricked and 
washed with a disinfecting lotion twice daily (Remedy 
No. 94). 

The child should not be allowed to pick the sores on 
the face, as this delays the healing and causes a pit or 
mark similar to that of smallpox. 

Vaccinia ; Cowpox ; Vaccination. 

Vaccination is the process found reliable in protecting 
humanity against smallpox, the greatest epidemic scourge 
the world has ever known. By this process the virus of 
cowpox is transformed in the child, and this gives that 
immunity against smallpox which attacks of scarlet 
fever give against scarlet fever. The greater protection 
given by the bovine virus over humanized virus, as well 
as its greater purity, has caused the former to be used 
almost entirely during the last twenty-five years in vacci- 
nating children. 

Large establishments are vaccinating heifers contin- 
ually and collecting the' vaccine virus on ivory points 
and in glass tubes. These are obtainable in all cities 
and towns for vaccinating children and adults. 

Vaccine is applied by scraping off the outer layer of 
skin and then putting the virus on the raw surface thus 
made. It may also be put under the true skin. In from 
two to three days a slight redness appears on this spot, 
and increases daily, till at the end of a week it is greatly 
enlarged and a large vesicle is seen in the center of it. 
This vesicle is seen to be composed of a group of smaller 
ones filled with a clear fluid, which becomes cloudy about 
the tenth day after vaccinating. It is then as large as a 
cent and is surrounded by a red swollen areola about two 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 423 

inches in diameter. The vesicle gradually dries up and 
forms a scab, which falls off in about three weeks. This 
scab was formerly used to vaccinate others. 

Children should be vaccinated when young and the 
operation repeated every four to seven years. One vac- 
cination makes some immune to smallpox for ever, while 
others require a repetition every few years to preserve 
their immunity. 

Girls should be vaccinated on the legs to avoid the 
scar in a visible place. 

Vaccination makes children sick for one or two days 
with fever, and some have a copious, dark red eruption 
at this time also. With some children this sickness is 
very severe and the sore requires a long time to heal. 
Where this occurs the disinfecting wash (Remedy No. 
94) should be used daily and the sore carefully dressed 
with absorbent cotton soaked in this lotion, and bandaged 
afterwards. 

Where vaccination is not complete protection a patient 
may contract varioloid, a mild form of smallpox. 

Mumps. 

This is one of the infectious diseases of childhood. It 
appears once only; one attack giving an immunity from 
subsequent ones. It may come at any age from two 
years to thirty; but appears mostly in children under fif- 
teen. Mumps is essentially an inflammation of the sali- 
vary, glands, and comes on one side of the face first, pass- 
ing over in a couple of days to the other side also. When 
present it gives the face a broad appearance at and under 
the ears and prevents the child from chewing anything 
solid. It may be confused with a swollen throat at first 
sight, but as there is no throat soreness in mumps a little 



424 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

study will remove this uncertainty. There is considerable 
fever and pain, with well marked cases, which last from 
two days to a week. The usual length of the disease is 
about one week. 

Mumps will occasionally leave the jaws and appear in 
the breasts in the female, or in the testicles in the male. 
In these two situations it is very painful and generally 
extends the attack for another week. An impression pre- 
vails that such attacks in the male cause subsequent ster- 
ility, but this is not true, as the writer has seen proven. 

There is no tendency in mumps to the formation of 
pus, even when the face is very hard, swollen, and tender. 

The treatment is mostly needed to allay pain and 
reduce the fever; as the disease is a specific one and runs 
a definite course, it can not be checked or its length short- 
ened. Where the pain prevents rest and sleep some ano- 
dyne, such as laudanum, should be applied continually on 
a soft, warm cloth, and a febrile mixture such as Reme- 
dy No. 45, given internally till all fever subsides. 

Whooping Cough. 

This is one of the diseases much dreaded by parents, 
as it is so tedious, and thus- in weak or young children 
endangers life by exhaustion. It can be known by the 
impetuous and frequent coughs following each other rap- 
idly till out of breath, with a tendency to end in vomit- 
ing. If there is any choice of seasons, warm weather is 
the most favorable for this as for all coughs, on account 
of the warm air giving the most favorable conditions for 
rapid recovery. 

Where whooping cough comes in winter the child will 
generally have enough returns of colds with spasmodic 
coughing to last till the summer season returns. In the 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 425 

most favorable seasons the slightest cases of whooping 
cough will last from four to six weeks. The greatest care 
must be exercised to prevent any exposure to cold or moist 
conditions, which may cause attacks of bronchitis or 
pneumonia to complicate this already distressing and 
tedious disease. 

All complications with whooping cough are serious, 
especially to nursing children, or those who have recently 
been sick. 

As vomiting follows the cough, frequent feeding of 
small amounts is requisite to properly nourish the 
patient. 

It seldom attacks a patient more than once, and can 
not be known from bronchitis for the first week or two. 

When accompanied by fever it should receive prompt 
attention, as this indicates some complication, such as 
bronchitis or pneumonia. There should be no appre- 
ciable fever, and when the paroxysm of cough is over the 
child should sleep or play as well as ever till the next 
one returns. * 

The principal duties of the mother or nurse are in 
attending during the paroxysms of cough, clothing com- 
fortably, feeding often, and avoiding exposure of those 
not immune by having had one attack. 

Children always become poor while suffering from 
whooping cough. This makes it a serious sickness for 
delicate, poorly-nourished children, and especially for 
those very young or those suffering from bronchitis or 
pneumonia. 

Medicines have little effect in controlling this disease. 
It runs a definite course, gradually increasing in severity 
for the first fifteen to twenty days, and then decreasing 
gradually till entirely well. 



426 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Where a child is much disturbed at night the writer 
has found Remedy No. 49 or No. 50, given every hour or 
two for a few doses in the evening, assist materially in 
lessening the paroxysms for the night. This gives better 
sleep and saves the strength of both child and nurse. 
Such cases always improve more rapidly when well rested, 
and fed small amounts frequently. 

Scarlet Fever; Scarlatina e 

Scarlet fever is one of the most dangerous of infantile 
diseases. It is very contagious to those who have not 
suffered from the disease before, but one attack gives an 
immunity against subsequent ones. Children under one 
year old very seldom contract this or any of the infectious 
diseases. 

Adults occasionally contract all infectious diseases. 
Those who have not suffered formerly from these diseases 
should be careful about exposing themselves, and should, 
if possible, never nurse those suffering with them. All 
persons nursing scarlet fever are liable to have sore 
throat. 

Contagious and infectious diseases are generally much 
more severe as children grow older; but this rule does 
not always apply. Also, some epidemics are much more 
malignant than others. 

Scarlet fever commences with fever, nausea, head and 
back ache, and the other usual symptoms of any febrile 
disease. The severity of these symptoms usually indicates 
the gravity of the attack. The rash appears on the 
second day and looks very like a severe heat rash, but is 
finer and thicker. 

With the rash there is generally a severe sore throat, 
which causes great difficulty in swallowing. 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 427 

The rash or eruption continues for five or six days 
in severe cases, and only for one or two days in mild 
cases. It is a bright scarlet color and very fine. 

As the disease subsides, the cuticle, or outer layer of 
the skin, dies and peels off. This is due to the severity 
of the eruption, and consequently this peeling, or desqua- 
mation, is in direct proportion to the severity of the 
attack. It usually lasts from three to four weeks, but in 
very light attacks this desquamation is scarcely percept- 
ible, except in a few spots where the eruption was most 
developed. This stage of peeling is considered the most 
contagious for other children, as the fine scales fly in the 
air, and are thus inhaled. 

Where the convalescing child is well bathed every day 
with warm, soapy water the peeling is much facilitated, 
and the tendency to inflammation of the kidneys and 
consequent dropsy is much lessened. 

Children with scarlet fever should be kept in bed 
during all the feverish stage, and afterward should be 
protected from all cold influence till the peeling stage is 
completed. During convalescence any exposure to cold 
will probably cause an inflammation of the kidneys and 
resulting dropsy. 

A physician should always be called to prescribe for 
scarlet fever. A mother can only work under directions 
with safety in this disease. It is accompanied by so 
much danger both during the attack and in the conval- 
escence that the best treatment is always needed. 

Scarlatina is a name given to mild attacks of scarlet 
fever. In all other respects they are identical. 

Occasionally a child will develop all the membranous 
soreness of diphtheria while suffering from scarlet fever. 
This makes the sickness very severe and dangerous, 



428 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Such attacks generally require antitoxin, the same as a 
genuine diphtheria. 

Cold water may and should be given frequently as a 
drink after the first two or three days or when all nausea 
has passed away. Where children refuse cold milk as a 
nourishment, always wanting water, both should be 
combined in equal amounts. These patients always 
refuse milk when they are allowed water; but this must 
be changed in all infantile sickness after the first few 
days of the illness, and the combined drink given to 
nourish the child. During the vomiting stage milk 
should be avoided, and very little water given. 

The rash cannot be suppressed by tepid bathing or cold 
drinks. 

The greatest danger in scarlet fever arises from throat 
complications aud the very high temperature. 

The sore throat prevents the child from taking nour- 
ishment or drinks, and such children become exhausted. 
Usually in these cases there is great swelling of the neck 
from absorption of poisons generated in the tonsils and 
the lining of the throat. This poison causes inflamma- 
tion and swelling of the glands in the neck. Such cases 
are always serious. 

Cases suffering from high temperature become delirious 
early. A certain amount of high temperature belongs to 
this sickness, as to all febrile diseases, and it is generally 
in proportion to the amount and intensity of the rash. 
The natural tendency is for the temperature to subside 
as the rash fades. But in the meantime the child's life 
may be sacrificed by this intensity of heat. 

Children bear a temperature of 103 to 104 degrees 
very well for two or three days, but will bear 105 degrees 
very poorly, and only for a few hours. Such children 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 429 

must be bathed well in water, commencing at 90 degrees, 
and rubbed well all over while in the water, allowing the 
temperature of the bath to fall to 80 or 85 degrees while 
so doing. Baths should last from five to fifteen minutes. 
Cold bathing at 50 degrees should be continued on the 
head all the time the temperature stands at 103 degrees 
or higher. Where baths cannot be used, frequent wash- 
ing with water at 60 to 70 degrees must be adopted, 
without drying the child afterwards. 

Baths to reduce temperature should be guided by the 
thermometer always, as the sensations on the surface of 
these patients are very unreliable. Often when the tem- 
perature is the highest the hands and feet are absolutely 
cold. Such a condition is always dangerous. 

The cooling baths must be repeated often enough, 
must be cold enough, and must be long enough to con- 
trol the temperature within safe limits, or these cases 
will die. A temperature of 102^ to 103^ degrees or less 
is usually safe where there are no serious complications. 

Medicines should not be relied upon in these intensely 
hot cases. A mother should remember always that a 
restless, feverish child needs a bath or a good washing 
with cool soap and water. This should be repeated 
every hour or two if needed to make the child sleep. 
This applies a Iways to all feverish children, in any and 
all diseases. She should never wait for directions to do 
this from any physician. This should be her golden rule 
in feverish children, and if she will then remember never 
to feed such a sick child, she will always be right in 
what she does. Never wipe the child dry after these 
baths. The moisture should be allowed to dry from the 
heat of the body. 

The bowels should be kept moving once or twice daily, 



430 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

and careful attention should be given to the urinary 
secretion to see that it is abundant. Where there is a 
laxative required, one that gives watery stools and acts 
on the kidneys also is the best. For this purpose Reme- 
dy No. 40, answers a good purpose. It may be given 
often enough to keep the bowels and kidneys acting 
regularly once or twice daily. 

Measles. 

This is one of the epidemic contagious diseases of 
childhood. It is not a dangerous affection with even mod- 
erate care, and comes only once in a life time. Occa- 
sionally a child may have a second attack as it is growing 
up, but there is always a doubt about the genuineness of 
the first attack. The great similarity between the erup- 
tion of measles and German measles often causes mis- 
takes. 

Measles commence usually as an ordinary cough and 
cold, and continue in this way for four days before any 
eruption appears. The cough is caused by the eruption 
appearing first in the throat and mouth. It also shows in 
the eyes, giving them a sore and tender appearance. Alto- 
gether the child looks as if it had taken a severe cold. 
On the fourth day the coarse, purplish -red blotches 
appear on the face and neck, gradually spreading down- 
wards to the legs on the fifth day. 

The cough is very severe and barking, with little relief 
from treatment till the disease subsides. It may result 
in bronchitis and require treatment for that. Remedy No. 
50, should be given when needed to control its severity. 

The common idea of keeping children hot with measles 
and scarlet fever causes a great deal of suffering from 
overheating the body. In severe attacks this habit 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 431 

becomes dangerous, as it raises the temperature too high, 
and children develop convulsions or inflammation of the 
brain from this cause. 

All children with measles, as well as scarlet fever, should 
be kept comfortably warm, but never hot, and where 
reducing- the covering does not make them cool enough, 
they should be bathed with tepid or cold water every two 
or three hours till they sleep comfortably. This treat- 
ment should be repeated every time the feverishness and 
restlessness return. 

Measles is severe in proportion to the amount of the 
eruption, which remains distinct and well marked for 
two to four days. It fades away in the same manner as 
it came, leaving the face first. 

Cold drinks are refreshing and beneficial to these cases, 
if not given too freely. After the feverish days of the 
eruption have passed milk should also be given. 

The amount of milk allowable to a child may be cal- 
culated by its size. The writer has found by experience 
that a pint o£ milk per day, for every fifty pounds in 
weight of the patient, during a febrile sickness, is a safe 
and liberal allowance. 

This amount will nourish the child sufficiently and will 
not add to the fever by causing indigestion. The amount 
for small children can be computed on this basis. Moth- 
ers will often think this amount too small, but it prevents 
all sense of hunger, and is enough to secure good sleep. 
With this amount they convalesce much more rapidly 
than with a heavier and more liberal diet. 

As the fever subsides the amount of milk may be 
increased with safety. 

Where the fever is very high and the child delirious 
or very restless a physician should be called. 



432 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The rash of measles can not be suppressed or driven 
in by bathing. The writer has seen the rash force itself 
out in spots between ice-cold applications when these were 
used continuously to control the high temperature of an 
attack of meningitis. 

Typhoid Fever. 

This is a sickness much dreaded by parents on account 
of its length and severity. Fortunately infants under two. 
years old are rarely afflicted with it. One attack gener- 
ally gives an immunity from subsequent ones. It is 
generally heralded by a season of uncertain health, in 
which there is no particular complaint but a condition of 
continued malaise and lack of interest in the usual daily 
amusements, and an uncertain appetite, with reduced vigor 
and strength. 

There is no particular symptom but a general collec- 
tion of complaints and minor ailments, before the fever- 
ish stage commences. In this condition the physician 
should at once be called and all his directions observed. 

While the mortality in typhoid fever is generally low, 
this is due to the skill and care given these cases by the 
profession. There is perhaps no sickness which presents 
greater opportunities for mistakes in treatment, and few 
sicknesses where real scientific care and experience play 
a larger part in the recovery. 

Each feature in the case, head, tongue, temperature, 
breathing, pulse, skin, stomach, bowels, urine and abdo- 
men, becomes an interesting and important study daily. 
The best nursing, dieting, and attendance are always 
needed from the beginning till after all evidences of the 
fever have entirely disappeared, no matter how many 
weeks that may be. 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 433 

Many a typhoid case has been sacrificed by one small 
but wrong feeding, or by one injudicious purgative. The 
stomach and bowels show the greatest disturbance gen- 
erally, and should be most carefully protected and assist- 
ed in doing their necessary work, in order to obtain 
good results. No one but the physician should issue any 
directions for food, medicines or nursing in these cases. 

Typhoid fever is a contagious disease, but it is found 
that the danger lies in the urinary and fecal discharges. 
These should be disinfected always by keeping a solu- 
tion of copperas (Remedy No. 113) or other strong dis- 
infectant in the vessel used, and all discharges should at 
once be removed and destroyed or buried in a place safe 
from all water supplies. 

The typhoid infection is generally found in the water 
supply. Occasionally it is found in the milk supply, 
from milk vessels being washed in infected water. 

Parents should never attempt to treat or nurse a case 
of typhoid fever without the directions of a reliable 
physician. 

Diphtheria. 

This is one of the diseases most dreaded by parents. 
Every examination of a child's throat made by a physician 
or parent has for its object the finding or exclusion of 
diphtheria. Why is this the case? Simply because it is 
•the one throat disease which kills. All other forms of 
sore throat are irritations and annoyances which pass 
away sooner or later. True it is that we may have 
dangerous or even fatal throat complications in scarlet 
fever, but even those are considered by many physicians 
as due to a diphtheritic infection in addition to the 
scarlatinal one. The breath smells very badly in a 
diphtheritic sore throat. 



434 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Diphtheria is due to a specific germ which develops 
its poisonous and destructive influence mostly in the 
throat. Occasionally we find the diphtheritic membrane 
form on sore places on the skin and in internal organs 
also. At times the disease will extend down into the 
lungs or stomach, and commonly the kidneys are 
oppressed and congested by the undue task imposed on 
them in eliminating this poison and tissue detritus from 
the blood current. 

Formerly diphtheria was a very fatal disease, and 
where not properly treated is the same to-day. General 
medication is of little value, except in the milder attacks 
of this formidable disease. Where the disease extends into 
the wind pipe and causes croup, instrumental aid is 
usually demanded, by putting a tube in from the mouth 
or through the neck in front. There is no pain or cut- 
ting when the tube is placed from the mouth. The child 
then breathes through the tube, and is immediately re- 
lieved of the suffocation which is endangering his life. 
When the tube is placed in the neck in front, chloroform 
must be used. Neither of these operations is usually dan- 
gerous to the child. 

The only reliable treatment in this disease, no matter 
where it is located, is the free use of antitoxin. This 
should be commenced as soon as the disease is detected, 
and should be repeated every twelve to twenty-four hours, 
as demanded by the severity of the attack. Every delay 
of a day in commencing this treatment increases the 
mortality from five to twenty per cent. 

The antitoxin is injected under the skin somewhere 
on the body, and thus immediately enters the circulation. 
There is no danger in this treatment. 

Mothers should always call the physician immediately 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 435 

when they suspect an attack of diphtheria, or the child 
shows fever with a foul breath, or pain in swallowing, or 
refuses to take food. 

Itch; Scabies. 

This is a fine eruption of red pimples scattered 
irregularly over the limbs and body, but mostly seen on 
the soft skin of the arms, back of the hands, and upper 
parts of the body. It is intensely itchy and the pimples 
are made into larger sores by the constant itching and 
scratching. There may be only a dozen or less small 
pimples visible or there may be hundreds. These 
pimples are caused by little insects or worms burrowing 
into the skin, and on the top of each fresh pimple a small 
vesicle can be seen. After scratching this disappears. 

Itch is a contagious disease and found among the dirty 
classes mostly; but any child can contract the disease by 
contact with those having it. It will continue till cured by 
outside dressings, mostly ointments well rubbed into the 
skin twice daily. Remedy No. 82 makes a good applica- 
tion and will generaMy cure all mild cases. Where the 
eruption is severe a physician should be consulted to be 
sure of the disease and the treatment. 

As itch infests the clothing, all underclothes and sheets 
should be boiled every three days while under treatment, 
to prevent reinoculation. 

The child should then have a good warm bath with 
plenty of soap. If any pimples still remain of a bright 
color, the treatment should be renewed for another three 
days, and the clothes again boiled. 

The treatment should again be renewed if any pimples 
remain. If this is not done properly the disease will 
soon reappear. 



436 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Some people cure itch by scattering powdered sulphur 
between the sheets of the bed and inside the child's 
nightclothes. This must be persevered in till the cure is 
obtained. The child should not have a bath during the 
treatment, as it is desirable to keep the sulphur in contact 
with the skin till the cure is effected. 

Ringworm. 

This is a common affection of the skin in many chil- 
dren. It usually shows in those over two years old and 
mostly in those attending school. It commences in a dull, 
red spot and, when first seen, is usually about the size of 
the end of a lead-pencil. It grows on the outside and 
dies in the center. The patches vary in size from a ten- 
cent piece to a fifty, and always are actively red on the 
outside edge. 

General Appearance. — A child may have one of a 
dozen spots on the face, neck, and in the hair. Those on 
the bare skin are easily treated, but those in the hair are 
very difficult and may take months for their cure. Here 
the hair dies, breaks, becomes thin, and falls out, leaving 
patches with a few thin, broken hairs, and the skin dry, 
grayish-red, and scaly. These broken hairs are dead and 
easily drawn out. 

Tincture of iodine or tincture of iron well applied once 
or twice daily will cure those on the bare skin in a week 
or two. The ointment Nos. 82, 83, in Remedies, well 
rubbed in twice daily, for very young children or tender 
skins, is a milder treatment, equally as effectual, but not 
so rapid as the iodine or iron. Care should be taken that 
the ointment is constantly applied and well rubbed into 
the sore spots every day. 

When ringworm enters the hairy scalp there is always 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 437 

great difficulty in removing it. Here we find indus- 
try and perseverance needed. If the above ointment is 
persistently rubbed in twice daily it will check the dis- 
ease and soon remove it. Unfortunately the importance 
of treatment is not always recognized, and the disease 
spreads till the hair is largely lost. Even under a phy- 
sician's care the disease will often last months in the 
scalp, but this is mostly due to the imperfection and 
irregularity of the dressings. In no eruptive disease 
are industry and regularity so absolutely necessary as in 
scalp ring- worm. 

As this disease is contagious, the child should not 
attend school or use any toilet articles used by other 
children. A light skull cap should be worn to secure 
perfect application of the medicine, and he should sleep 
alone. 



CHAPTEK XV. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 



Sore Mouth; Stomatitis; Canker; Thrush. 

This is one of the very common affections of young 
babies. So common indeed is it, that many mothers talk 
of its prospective coming as a necessity in all children. 

Sore mouth may appear any time after the first week, 
and its approach will usually be close" after errors in 
feeding the infant. From this it is apparent that a dis- 
turbed state of digestion is the cause of the trouble. 
This is nearly always the case. 

The first indication of soreness is difficulty in feeding. 
Fever, more or less, in proportion to the extent of the 
sores, always accompanies it. With this also comes drool- 
ing and a foul breath. 

On examination, sores may be found inside the lips or 
cheeks, and on the tongue or under it. These sores may 
be any size from a pin head to a pea, and are usually 
white at first and ash gray later. There may be any 
number from one to fifty, appearing like little specs of 
curd at first, and afterwards as little ulcers with red 
edges. 

Hand-fed children are much more liable to this condi- 
tion than nursed babies. The cause is usually too much, 
food or unwholesome food. This condition is called 
thrush or canker. 

438 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 4J9 

The treatment needed is a cathartic at first. Remedy 
No. 42 is very suitable, and should be continued at greater 
intervals after the bowels are freely emptied of their 
poisonous contents. There should be a reduction of the 
food and drink, and fixed times for giving them. The 
mother must remember that the feeding should be gov- 
erned by the power to perfectly digest the food. This is 
shown by the healthy, yellow, inodorous, mustard con- 
sistence of the daily stools. 

A child who has stools of this character will seldom, if 
ever, suffer from sore mouth. Healthy stools in the 
infant are the key to its health as well as to its successful 
growth and development. 

For the mouth itself many washes are used to heal and 
disinfect it. Usually powdered borax is successful, as it 
disinfects while it heals. The writer prefers the dry 
powder Remedy No. 41, to all other dressings. It does 
not hurt, can be often repeated, and heals rapidly. 

Very sore mouths may require a different treatment 
and the attention of the physician: but all sore mouths 
will return or continue sore when the dietary is neglected. 

Washing the mouth with a swab, or the finger with a 
cloth around it, is cruelty, but not the refined kind. A 
soft brush should always be used; but the child's tongue 
is the best brush eyer used in its mouth, and also the 
most comfortable one. With the dry powder dressing it 
is a complete success. 

The Stomach— Vomiting, 

This is the most abused organ in the infantile body. 
As the instinct is always to swallow everything that 
reaches the mouth, and the often false kindness of all 
around is to give the child or infant all it will swallow, 



440 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

the limit is only obtained when the stomach, stretched 
to its utmost capacity, cannot receive more, and to get 
any relief must vomit the most or all it has thus inju- 
diciously received. 

While crying and cross from the distress thus caused 
by this strained and stretched condition of the stomach, 
the grandmother or friends present all exclaim that the 
child is hungry and take offence if the young mother 
dares to dispute their diagnosis, and refuses to repeat the 
torture. In their conversation they deprecate her youth 
and inexperience, pointing with pride to dozens of their 
own children who through months of vomiting, diarrhea, 
crying, sleeplessness, and crossness, suffered this ordeal 
managing finally to survive it, and, like the battle-scarred 
veteran, carry evidence of their warfare with this abused 
dietary in the form of a dilated stomach, chronic dyspepsia, 
and recurring billiousness for the rest of their lives. 

These friends do not remind the mother of their chil- 
dren who contracted a fatal diarrhea from this injudicious 
dietary. These cases are only represented by their tomb- 
stones. 

The principal symptom indicating irritation of the stom- 
ach, is crossness and vomiting. This may be either func- 
tional, from over supply, or due to the resulting inflam- 
mation of this organ. Most commonly it is only tem- 
porary in character, and will be relieved by resting the 
stomach. Rest in this case means such a reduction in 
the labor demanded as will come within its comfortable 
digestive capacity. 

In thus reducing the food or drink you will continu- 
ally have to contend with the imaginary fear of weaken- 
ing or starving the child entertained in the minds of 
some friends, or even of some parents at times. This is 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 441 

quite natural, and would be correct if it were requisite 
to continue this discipline for a long time; but true kind- 
ness to the little one, and the necessities for a quick cure, 
demand an immediate reduction of the aliment below 
the vomiting point, even if you have to go down to a few 
drops every fifteen or thirty minutes or even farther and 
cut off all drink for a few hours in extreme cases. 

This is always the short and successful way to relieve 
vomiting. Do not be misled by the importunities of 
friends to give this, that, or the other thing "to settle the 
stomach,' ' but give nothing " to settle the stomach." In 
no other part of nursing are those four letters R E S T so 
imperatively demanded. Quantity in the vast majority of 
disturbed stomachs, expresses the key to the disturbance. 
Fortunately the cure is always rapid where the organ is 
properly rested, a few hours being sufficient to give 
relief and re-establish a fair amount of healthy digestion. 
Care must of course be observed that the offence of quan- 
tity be not again committed. 

Vomiting is frequently perpetuated by cold drinks, and 
most commonly so in inflamed stomachs. In inflam- 
mations there is little desire for food, but there is for 
drink, and especially for cold drinks. Nothing gives the 
same grateful, satisfactory sensation that cold water does to 
the inflamed stomach, and the tendency is always to take" 
too much. Experience shows that it is commonly re- 
turned as soon as it becomes warm, unless the amount 
taken is very small. Generally it is preferable to give 
small lumps of ice in limited amounts which can be swal- 
lowed whole or dissolved in the mouth. 

Frequently it will be necessary to change from cold to 
hot drinks, given in the same small way. The extremes 
of temperature are always necessary features for success- 



442 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

ful results. Quantity and temperature are the only key- 
words to a cure in vomiting. 

While care is being observed in this internal treat- 
ment, great assistance can be rendered by mild mustard 
applications externally over the stomach. These should 
always be made weak, but very large. The benefit is 
generally in proportion to the size, as infants bear the 
effects of mustard poorly, and the large plaster gives the 
good result with little irritation of the skin. Always 
remove a mustard plaster from a child as soon as the skin 
shows any reddening. 

The mustard in these plasters should not be more than 
one-eighth of the flour, making the proportions one-eighth 
mustard to seven-eighths flour. These should be well 
stirred with plenty of hot water, so that when spread on 
muslin the fabric is wet thoroughly all through. When 
this is applied to the skin it becomes wet at once and the 
stimulating influence of the mustard is felt in a few min- 
utes. Mistakes are made continually in making mustard 
plasters too rapidly. The mixture should be stirred con- 
tinually till all lumps and dryness are completely removed, 
before being spread on the muslin. 

Vomiting in Nursing Children. 

Many people maintain that vomiting in a nursing child 
is a healthy sign. This is an absurdity. The child who 
vomits much and is yet healthy, merely casts out the 
superabundance of mother's milk swallowed. This sur- 
plus shows so much wasted strength of the mother, and 
can in no way contribute to "the health of the child. 
This child is healthy in spite of the vomiting, not on 
account of it. It would do better with smaller nursings, 
and the mother's strength be conserved that much. For- 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 443 

tunate is it that nature has endowed these little ones with 
the ability to unload this surplus food without being 
sickened. 

Vomiting Caused by Unhealthy Milk. 

There is a species of vomiting in nursing babies which 
is not due to surplus food, but to the unhealthy quality 
of the milk. While this vomiting occurs occasionally 
with almost any nursing baby from temporary disturb- 
ance of the mother, and soon corrects itself, there are 
cases where the vomiting persists and yields to no treat-, 
ment. This may follow from birth or commence at any 
subsequent time. These children never thrive well, and 
many of them, if not weaned, lose flesh steadily till death 
ends the struggle. The cause of this is a poisonous or 
irritating quality in the milk, and in many it cannot be 
corrected. Great watchfulness should always be exercised 
in these cases to have the babies weaned before serious 
damage is done and the rickety condition established. 
Here the regular weekly or bi-weekly use of the scales with 
the record chart (Figure 42) determines the necessity 
for weaning long before the child's appearance demands it. 

Babies suffering in this way are cross, pale, and restless, 
very often having green, slimy, and foul stools. Medicinal 
treatment of the baby is useless, as it is comfortable only 
when there is none of this irritating food in its stomach 
or bowels. 

Temporary relief may be obtained by a dose of castor 
oil or Remedies Nos. 38 and 42. 

Habitual Vomiting in Hand-Fed Children. 

This is a very common difficulty where children are 
not nursed, and it occurs at all ages under two years. 
Most commonly it is due to excessive or overfeeding, 



444 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

and the stomach is compelled to reject the surplus quan- 
tity before any relief can be obtained. While in most 
cases the error is due to the amount, there are some 
children whose food is so unsuitable in quality that they 
are habitual vomiters. This will occur with apparently 
the most suitable food, but the idiosyncrasy of some 
children will show that it causes nausea and continuous 
vomiting, and must be changed or very much lessened in 
amount. 

Where unsuitable food is persevered in, loss of appetite, 
paleness, and emaciation are sure to follow. Whether 
the vomiting comes from the quantity or the quality of 
the food, the error must be corrected before the child 
can thrive. Generally, these children are greedy and 
demand large amounts before they are satisfied. In 
such cases very dilute cream or milk, or preparations of 
cereals made by boiling instead of baking, are requisite 
to give satisfaction to their abnormal demands. The 
food must be very dilute. The reduction or change 
must bring the amount of food below where vomiting 
occurs to have success, and this change must be main- 
tained long enough to secure a permanent improvement. 

The importance of making such changes in the food 
and the cooking thereof cannot be too strongly im- 
pressed upon the parents of children suffering from 
recurring attacks of vomiting. Neglect of this feature 
causes the death of thousands of children annually. Not 
only do they die in these attacks, but they are also the 
susceptible patients when the warm weather or epidemic 
diseases approach. Still farther must it be borne in mind 
with very young children, that the fatal shrinking of 
marasmus finds its commencement in continued or oft 
repeated disturbances of the digestive organs. Experi- 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 445 

ence shows that these children refuse to recover under 
any treatment when this vomiting has continued very 
long. 

Medicinal treatment gives only temporary relief; but 
some assistance must always be given the irritated 
stomach so that enough nourishment will enter the body 
to strengthen the digestive glands so they can do better 
and more work. For this purpose, digestive assistants 
such as Remedy No. 43 are very valuable. 

Damaged Stomach. 

When once the child's stomach has been damaged by 
overfeeding or unsuitable food, it takes great care and 
attention to the dietary to recover from this injury. Dur- 
ing this time little or no advance is made in weight or 
growth. If the use of such unsuitable food is perse- 
vered in too long, the child will be permanently damaged 
at some point through imperfect nutrition, and will carry 
the marks of the trouble during all of its life. In many 
cases this unsuitable food, when not corrected, produces 
changes from which the child cannot recover, no matter 
what the treatment or care may be. Such children lose 
their recuperating power and invariably die. 

This is due to the extreme irritation of the stomach 
and bowels for a long enough, time to entirely destroy 
their digestive and absorbing power. Such children die 
from marasmus. 

To avoid this unfortunate result, the mother must early 
secure for the infant such a dietary as will prevent vom- 
iting and produce yellow, inodorous stools of a mustard 
paste consistence. All these features are an absolute 
necessity in order to secure health, growth, and strength. 
Without food giving these results, any child is living on 



446 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

suiferance, waiting only for the first storm, in the form 
of an acute sickness, to wipe out its shimmering light. 

If, on the other hand, one of these children finally 
improves with the approach of cold weather, the mother 
must remember the grand struggle for existence through 
which the little one has passed. She must not forget 
that though apparently well or better, it is much nearer 
its grave in subsequent infantile sicknesses than it would 
have been with a better history. She must also remember 
that this child will carry weak spots, hidden during health 
but conspicuous to the experienced physician for all time, 
which will continually rise up as a menace or weakness in 
future trials or sicknesses. 

No child vomiting frequently is as safe as a child who 
does not vomit. 

No child with foul, pasty, bad colored stools can be 
equal to the child with yellow, inodorous, mushy stools. 

The former stools mean sickness. 

The latter mean health, strength, and growth. 

Diarrhea. 

Many mothers fear that their babies are suffering from 
diarrhea when their condition is natural. This apprehen- 
sion arises from the number of stools being greater every 
day than is usual with many other children. Variety in 
number is so common that only the extreme frequency 
should cause this apprehension. 

Number alone does not constitute diarrhea; changed 
color, consistence, and odor must one or all be added to the 
unusual number to constitute a diseased condition. So 
long as the infant sleeps its normal amount daily and 
thrives well, it is not sick. It will not do this with green, 
slimy, watery, or foul stools. Perhaps in no feature will 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 447 

the changed condition be so quickly and surely recog- 
nized as in the disturbed sleep. This commonly occurs- 
long before other marked effects are noticed. 

The bowels in infants are very active and generally 
move several times daily in the early months of life, but 
less frequently with increasing age. &o long as the stools 
are yellow, almost inodorous and the consistence of mus- 
tard paste, the number per day is correct, whether that be 
one or twenty. 

As the intestines are a continuation of the stomach both 
anatomically and functionally, save that the lower part 
or large bowel is also a sewer to carry off the waste ex- 
crement that cannot be digested, absorbed and appropri- 
ated into tissue, they are subject to like influence of dietary. 
As the stomach rejects by throwing out all unsuitable 
quantities and qualities of food, so do the bowels continue 
the same protective dislodging process in the opposite 
direction. The doing of this is called diarrhea, because 
it is an unnatural act. and the discharged contents are 
also unnatural. 

While it could not be said that all infantile diarrheas 
are merely this protective intestinal activity, yet it can 
safely be asserted that the large majority are due to un- 
suitable quantity or quality of the food, others are due to 
functional derangement from this digestive abuse, or 
inter-current disease. Even in the latter condition the 
imperfect digestion allows the food to ferment in the 
bowels, and the same unsuitable character of contents is 
rapidly acquired. 

Occasionally we find outside influences, such as extreme 
heat, so depress the vitality that the bowel is unable to 
perform its duty properly, and a violent diarrheal disturb- 
ance is the result. 



448 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Viewing all these conditions resulting from imperfect 
contents, can we wonder that the old dose of castor oil 
became so popular and was used so regularly and with 
such good results? Indeed, it would be difficult to sug- 
gest any treatment more truly applicable to the situation, 
and that will give such decided relief for a short time. 
The greatest harm its use causes is that it inspires such 
confidence in the parent that the dose is too soon and too 
often repeated. A moment's thought will show that the 
oil or other purgative is only reaching and removing a 
result. The primary cause must be sought out carefully 
by the physician and corrected or removed, to effect the 
cure. 

Great varieties in the discharges of diarrhea appear and 
indicate different degrees of danger, but as some of them, 
those with bloody and watery stools, are very serious, and 
a few hours will commonly destroy the chance of recovery, 
no treatment further than the first laxative dose should be 
tried before calling in the physician. The foul smelling 
or musty watery stool is perhaps the most dangerous one 
and also the most rapid in its action. With these attacks 
all animal food is dangerous. 

The regulation of the diet in diarrhea, or better, the 
temporary exclusion of all diet, is an absolute necessity 
for some hours or even days. In mild cases the diet may 
only require to be reduced or altered. This subject com- 
monly reaches away back to the mother's diet, duties, etc., 
in nursing children, and to the food, drink, health, and 
breed of the cow supplying milk for the hand-fed child. 
It will require that careful analysis which only the experi- 
enced physician, after careful thought and watching, can 
successfully give it. Even the physician in many cases 
finds that to properly correct these errors in infantile 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 449 

dietary is the most difficult duty he has to perform. Too 
often it is imperfectly done and the child is allowed to 
drag along with returning foul smelling and bad colored 
stools, till some incurable disease or deformity, such as 
tuberculosis or rickets, is permanently established. 

Right at this point do we find the source of the bow 
legs, knock knees, hump backs, hammer heads, dwarfs, 
and other deformities that always appear on the streets 
of all large cities. Were our mothers better educated as 
to the dangers, to shape and growth as well as life of the 
infant, that always accompany or follow unhealthy stools 
in childhood, we would find them quickly demanding of 
their physician a careful attention to, and analysis of, this 
difficulty. In no feature of child-raising is careful 
thought and study more important. In no part of our 
domestic lives are greater errors committed than in this 
one, where the safe futurity of the offspring is confi- 
dently assured to the anxious mother by meddlesome 
friends or the unskilful physician. 

Why is this the case ? (Another one of our inheritances. ) 
Because our young mothers are not properly educated 
up to that height, in this all important subject, which in- 
volves the perfect future of their children. Too often 
and too long has this subject been cast aside by all as too 
small to require the intelligent physician's attention and 
thought, and is thus relegated to unscientific minds, who 
cannot grasp its importance or contend with its intricacies. 
Never have I met an intelligent young mother who had 
this subject plainly explained to her, and had been educat- 
ed up to its errors, that did not become in a few weeks 
the best of mothers, fully alive to this important matter, 
above the nonsensical aphorisms of suggestive friends, 
proof against the multitudinous recommendations of the 

29 



450 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

kind, yet in this matter unkind, neighbor. Truly does she 
become a home missionary, ministering, not to the souls, 
but to the all important bodies of the coming generation. 
We need more of these, and in proportion as you faithfully, 
as mothers or nurses, not only do your duties on this sub- 
ject well, but also inculcate the proper ideas into those 
whom you are called to assist, will you aid in this good 
work. Let it not be said of you, as I have heard it before 
of others, that your careless, ignorant advice was the com- 
mencement of all the stomach and bowel disturbance in 
the infant, and led up to its non-development, deformity, 
or even death. Realize fully the importance of giving 
advice on a subject that carries the future of the child. Do 
not, like the uneducated, assume to talk on that of which 
you know nothing. Remember we are away behind on 
this subject, and it is only by the greatest perseverance, 
intelligence, and industry that we can bring the digestive 
care of the infantile community up to that perfection 
reached in other parts of their development. This is an 
intricate subject; do not attempt to handle it carelessly. 

Absolute rest in the horizontal position is always 
needed in children with loose bowels. The greater the 
activity of the child, the more frequent are the stools. 
Where great heat and fever accompany this disturbance, 
cold wet cloths should be applied to the abdomen continu- 
ously, or cool bathing of the surface should be resorted to 
till the fever subsides. Cooling drinks are also allowable 
in email quantities, with little or no food, till all the fever 
subsides. In medicines, Remedy No. 39 may be used for 
mild cases after the bowels are first cleared out with castor 
oil or Remedy No. 42. In all severe or obstinate cases 
the physician should be called in. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 451 

Feeding may be resumed and increased as the yellow, 
well digested character of the stools says it is safe. 

Oolic. 

This is a common disturbance in children, and always 
due to imperfect digestion. It occurs in both nursed and 
hand-fed babies, and may appear in the most healthy 
from some error in the last meal. 

In nursing babies this error is of course due to some 
irregularity in the health or habits of the mother or 
change in her dieting, which can easily be traced if the 
child has been previously free from such distress. But 
where the colic is persistent, as in some babies, for months 
in succession, with constantly returning green, gassy 
stools and very disturbed sleep, greater difficulty will be 
encountered in finding the true cause of disturbance. 

Many of these children thrive in spite of their cross- 
ness. So frequently is this the case that many mothers 
have come to look upon a colicky baby as a healthy one; 
but, on the other hand, many of these children do not 
thrive or grow and present a sallow, pale, unhealthy 
color. 

Certainly, colic is not an advantage to any child, and 
its presence should always be considered the result of an 
error somewhere. This error in nursing children may be 
due to poor health, extreme exercise, mental condition, 
unsuitable food, or other disturbing agencies, which spoil 
the mother's milk. 

Some mothers cannot, under the most favorable circum- 
stances, secrete a good nourishing milk, suitable for their 
children, and continued digestive disturbance with colic 
and emaciation of the child follows its use. Such moth- 
ers should always avoid nursing their own offspring. 



452 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Even the moderately frequent repetition of colic endan- 
gers the success of the little one, and a solution of it 
should always be sought for in the quality or quantity 
of the food. This rule applies to both nursed and hand- 
fed children. 

In hand-fed children the great tendency is to overfeed. 
In fact, except with mothers specially educated on this 
point, it is the rule to do so. Such children are always 
colicky and poor sleepers. The only rational treatment 
is to carefully correct and adjust the food and amount 
thereof to the digestive capacity of the child. Then the 
colic invariably disappears. 

Temporary relief is frequently obtained by giving a 
little lime water, half to one teaspoon, in water at each 
nursing or feeding, or Eemedy No. 52. These relieve the 
acidity and colic due to it in over-stimulated stomachs. 

Irregular and too frequent nursing commonly causes 
colic and green stools. In these cases the different qual- 
ities of milk made at irregular nursings is the general 
cause of the pain. Regulating the time between nursings 
will generally correct this source of trouble. 

Many mothers who have plenty of milk make the mis- 
take of hand feeding also during the first six months, 
thus causing colic and sleeplessness. While feeding can be 
done successfully to children over six months old and cause 
little or no distress, but on the other hand be very advan- 
tageous to many of them, yet the opposite is generally 
the case in those under this age. The inference is, of 
course, that no feeding should be done, where there is not 
the necessity for it, till the child is old enough to digest 
thoroughly the new food. 

Temporary relief is obtained in attacks of colic by 
emptying the bowels of the irritating material with a 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 453 

cathartic (Remedy No. 38) or enema. Frequently relief 
can quickly be obtained by giving some aromatic drink, 
such as peppermint, aniseed, catnip, etc. In fact, any 
diffusible aromatic or spirit may be used successfully. 
Gin and whisky are frequently used, with very quick re- 
lief, where the colic is due to gassy accumulations in the 
stomach or upper bowels. It is always well to mix them 
Vith some alkaline solution, as soda or lime water (Reme- 
dy No. 37). 

In addition to the internal remedies, friction or heavy 
rubbing of the abdomen before a hot fire will assist mate- 
rially in relieving extremely severe attacks. Frequently 
mothers cause colic by nursing the child too long. Just 
as we suffer from indigestion from overeating even suit- 
able food, so do infants suffer likewise from the same 
cause, through gassy formation in the bowels. Mothers 
should carefully regulate the amount the baby takes at 
each meal. Never allow the infant to draw enough to 
cause vomiting, and when colicky do not allow it to draw 
to satisfaction. Such mothers should watch the clock 
while nursing, and stop the infant soon enough to pre- 
vent overloading the stomach. Those infants, if un- 
derfed, will become restless and hungry before the next 
regular hour for feeding. Unless they do this the mother 
need have no apprehensions lest the child be underfed. 
Such children will always thrive better on the amount 
they can digest comfortably than on a larger amount. 

Children suffering continually from colic with green or 
slimy stools should have a change of food at once, if de- 
creased feeding does not give relief from pain and pro- 
cure yellow stools. 

Children with continued green stools are alwavs in a 
condition dangerous to health or development. 



454 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

High Summer Mortality. 

The greatest mortality among children occurs during 
the summer months. This is caused by the heat, con- 
sequent thirst, over drinking of milk, rapid decomposi- 
tion of food, and reduced digestive power. 

While this applies to all children, it is most particularly 
applicable to those who are hand fed, and increases in 
inverse ratio with their age. From this it is apparent 
that children born in the late winter and spring are in 
much greater danger, than those born in the preceding 
fall and early winter, where the same diet is used, and 
the same skill prepares the food. 

In 1894 the writer obtained from the health office of 
Detroit a list of all the children under two years old who 
died during the months of June, July, and August of 
that year. These are the months of highest infantile 
mortality, and also the months where digestive disturb- 
ances are most fatal in all large cities of the northern 
half of the globe. 

In order to obtain clear and distinct knowledge of 
these fatal results and the conditions leading up to them 
these lists were placed in the hands of two medical 
students, Dr. Reilly and Dr. Kempf. 

These physicians made a house-to-house canvass, inquir- 
ing carefully into the dietary, age, and previous health 
of each case, noting particularly whether the infants were 
nursed entirely, hand fed entirely, or nursed partly and 
hand fed the balance. 

The whole number of cases on this list was 467. Of this 
number 294 died of stomach and bowel affections while 
under one year old, and 43 died of the same diseases 
when between one and two years old. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 455 

Of these 294 under one year old, 244 were hand fed, 
and 50 were nursed by their mothers. 

The only inference that can be drawn from these 
figures is that during these three months, the most fatal 
to infants, nearly five hand-fed children die for every one 
nursed by its mother. 

What stronger^ evidence can we have in favor of 
maternal feeding than the above. True it is that this 
ratio was established by deaths under all conditions of 
life, and by all nationalities, mostly Poles, Italians, 
Germans, Irish, and American. 

With careful feeding by intelligent mothers properly 
educated on this subject, the above proportion of deaths 
in hand-fed infants could be reduced at least 75 per cent. 

These errors in feeding do not occur in the hot weather 
alone. In the cool weather infants resist such errors for 
a time but show irritation and disturbance, which cul- 
minates too often in serious sickness as soon as the hot 
weather arrives. 

Auto-Intoxication . 

What is this? Simply intoxication from products 
manufactured in the body by unhealthy digestion. The 
healthy adult buys and swallows his intoxicants, or 
poisons; the sickly or improperly fed child manufactures 
his intoxicants, or poisons, inside his own anatomy. There 
is only a difference in the method of obtaining them, for 
the results are equally harmful and depend entirely on 
the nature of the intoxicant and the quantity received. 
Few parents realize that the meat, milk or eggs, which 
are the very life and energy of the infant when properly 
given, are also the death of hundreds and thousands 
yearly, through careless or lavish use. Also, that the oat- 
meal, rice, or wheat products, which are so delicate and 



456 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY 

nourishing when properly prepared and carefully fed, 
become the strongest irritants and poisons when these 
rules of preparation and feeding are transgressed. 

The . same results follow the use of fruits and even 
water to a certain degree. Intelligence must always 
govern their use. The wonderful reserve and reviving 
power which nature has placed in all infantile organs is 
what saves the lives of so many who daily swallow too 
much of the suitable as well as the unsuitable. 

The bad results of auto-intoxication are seen in many 
forms of disease, such as fever, indigestion, toxemia, 
diarrhea, diseased brain, liver, skin and kidneys. 
These are only a few of the results daily seen and di- 
rectly traceable to this auto-intoxication. 

Most of the disturbances are merely functional, and 
subside rapidly with a correct diet; but there are many 
cases where permanent deformity and incurable organic 
disease are established. 

Indigestion; Dyspepsia; Catarrh of the Stomach. 

These are a few of the terms applicable to disturb- 
ances of the stomach, or the process of digestion. As 
these disturbances may mean any intensity, from a mild 
vomiting or regurgitation of gas to a most intense colic 
or severe diarrheal attack, from a slight fever and sleep- 
lessness to a severe meningitis, from a little drowsiness 
and stupor to profound toxemia, or from a foul breath to 
an alarming auto-intoxication, the reader can realize how 
impossible and unnecessary it would be for the author to 
treat this subject correctly and independently under this 
heading. It has been the object of the writer in the 
other pages of this chapter to present the errors of feed- 
ing and their inevitable results in such a manner that the 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 457 

reader of them will understand the mysteries of indiges- 
tion and its bad results more thoroughly and clearly than 
by reading any separate article on the subject. 

Indigestion means a disproportion between the food 
entering the stomach, and the fluid secreted there to 
digest it. 

Dyspepsia may be defined as the uncomfortable sensa- 
tions and results evinced by the patient while trying to 
digest more food than he has gastric juice to properly 
convert into healthy nutriment. 

Catarrh of the stomach means irritation of the stomach 
lining and the glands contained therein, due to contact 
with the fermenting or decomposing food resulting from 
the indigestion and dyspepsia above described. 

As indigestion results in producing some one of the 
other diseases or disturbances described in this chapter, 
that treatment found successful in curing each of them is 
the proper method requisite in each case. 

The foundation or principle involved always is to first 
give the overworked stomach REST. After this, to 
properly adjust the labor of digesting the food to the 
strength and amount of the gastric fluid secreted is 
always the true and only way to a permanent cure, and 
the proper growth and development of the infant. 

The key by which success is early recognized is the 
production of healthy, well digested, inodorous stools. 
When once these are obtained the mother or nurse should 
never allow any additions to, or variations in, the diet 
made without their correctness being proved by a con- 
tinuance of the same healthy stools. 

A change in the quality of the food or a reduction in 
the amount is always an absolute essential in treating or 
avoiding attacks of these diseases. 



458 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY 

Constipation: Its Causes. 

While this subject seems to be a very simple one, yet 
the extreme obstinacy of it under treatment shows that it 
must be complicated indeed. Very few mothers realize 
the difficulties that this little subject presents. To do so 
necessitates a knowledge of the many causes leading up 
to this result. 

Almost the first duty devolving on a mother or nurse 
is to overcome the often constipated condition of the new- 
born child. The accumulation of meconium in the child 
prior to birth, and its tough, glutenous nature demand 
undue intestinal effort to move it outward. This causes 
griping pain and restlessness until a free evacuation of 
the accumulated mass has been obtained. 

Where the child does not secure this naturally, it 
should not be allowed to continue in this griped condition 
more than two or three hours before half a teaspoon of 
castor oil is given. This may require repetition next day 
if free stools, and consequent ease, from the first dose are 
not obtained. Until all this green mass is removed there 
can be no lasting comfort or peace. The treatment is 
traditional, sensible, and correct. Our ancestors did it 
for generations back, and rightly so, but unfortunately 
we have learned to carry their purging ideas too far. 
The bowels, after the first load of meconium is removed, 
should, and nearly always do, move regularly three or 
four times daily. When not regular it is due to one of 
the following causes: 

1. Abuse of laxatives. 

2. Unsuitable food. 

3. Digestive derangements. 

4. Imperfect development of the bowel. 

5. Insufficiency of food. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 459 

The particular reason should be ascertained in each 
case, and the error corrected at once, before the child's 
health is permanently damaged by the abusive use of 
purgatives in a vain effort at correction. 

Abuse of Laxatives. 

While to the uninitiated, this may seem only a small 
matter, yet to the experienced parent or physician it is of 
great importance. This is a matter that is too often over- 
looked by the physician; too often usurped by the "natural 
born" nurse or friend, and too little understood by the in- 
telligent young mother. Only when damage to health 
and a persistent constipation of the baby has worried the 
mother for weeks (which she lamentingly asserts no 
medicine relieves) will the physician s attention be drawn 
to this matter. 

On inquiry he finds that she commenced giving castor 
oil or some other laxative every three or four days as a 
something "good" for the child, and not necessarily for 
any constipation. The child may have been cross, had 
bad colored stools, or did not rest well, and the first dose 
or two gave apparent relief. The early or regular 
repetition of the laxative soon showed that constipation, 
which must always follow this abuse of the child's 
digestive organs. 

The oil or other cathartic empties out all the contents 
of the alimentary canal, and also draws enough serum 
from the blood to liquefy the stools and cause easy 
evacuations. Here we see the direct loss which must 
always follow the use of any laxative. Not only is all the 
excrement in the bowels removed, but all the semi-digested 
food and a portion of the serum of the blood are also 
thrown out as waste material. 



460 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

This shows a direct loss of nourishment in food and a 
greater loss of nourishment in blood serum. The total 
loss for each cathartic given to child or adult will 
represent all the nourishment previously taken for one 
to three days, according to the severity of its action. It 
can readily be seen that it requires only the frequent 
repetition of castor oil or any other laxative to produce 
an actual condition of invalidism and weakness. 

Prior to such a condition of invalidism we always find 
produced an obstinate condition of constipation. How 
can it be otherwise? The bowels naturally move only 
when they have the strength and proper stimulation 
thereto by suitable contents. If we wash out with oil or 
other cathartic all their contents, must we not wait till 
the new supply of food is properly digested and enough 
waste is accumulated in the bowels to give this stimula- 
tion for an evacuation. This requires from one to two 
days at least, according to the age and digestive power of 
the patient. Experience shows this must be so by the 
length of time that always elapses after a single cathartic 
before the bowels again resume their normal action in a 
perfectly healthy subject. 

Now we must remember tnat all the secreting and 
excreting organs of the body, as well as the nervous and 
muscular functions, receive healthy stimulus and power 
from the blood only, and that in direct proportion as 
the blood is healthy, vigorous, and abundant. If by 
cathartics we remove part of the blood serum, we cer- 
tainly reduce its strength and nourishing power an equal 
amount. These must be replaced by food; but while the 
equilibrium of the blood is being thus re-established, not 
only is the child's natural resistance to diseases of all 
kinds lessened, but all the different organs — stomach, liver, 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 461 

kidneys, and bowels — are poorly nourished and weakened. 
This weakening of the bowel adds to its liability to be- 
come constipated by cathartics, and is in direct propor- 
tion to the severity of the catharsis. No weak or tired 
organ or part can do its work well. 

Cathartics Irritate the Bowel. 

There is yet another unfavorable view to be taken of 
repeated catharsis. Irritation of any surface of the body, 
either internal or external, causes a thickening of the 
superficial coating of that part, and a corresponding lack 
of sensibility. This is Nature's plan of protection, also 
her way of meeting extraordinary conditions, and is plainly 
shown in the thickening of the skin and numbing of sen- 
sations on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, 
and all parts of the body subjected to extra friction or 
wear. 

This is also well seen in the resistance the skin soon 
shows to the blistering power of mustard, turpentine, and 
very hot water, by frequent repetition of any one or all of 
them. This applies to all strong blistering or irritating 
substances until they lose all power to produce an irrita- 
tion. We have daily proof of this natural law of resist- 
ance to irritants which the body shows to the continued 
use of most medicines, either internally or externally ; and 
in no part is this proof more general than in the result 
of the frequent abuse of laxatives practiced by humanity. 
Is there anything more common than to hear daily in 
conversation that "one pill was enough to act vigorously 
at first, but now nothing less than five or six has any effect." 
Some will go far enough to say they "can take the whole 
boxful without any effect/' Others assert that "the 
pills are not so good now as formerly." Those who drink 



462 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

laxative mineral waters soon arrive at the same hopeless 
result, finding that the dose needed for a laxative effect 
must be measured by the goblet rather than the original 
tablespoon. This law of resistance applies to the abuse of 
these remedies, not to their occasional necessary use for a 
definite purpose, and includes the whole family of medi- 
cines that act as laxatives, be they vegetable or mineral 
in their origin. 

This resistance and consequent loss of power is in 
reality Nature's way of protecting herself against the 
ignorance, thoughtlessness, meddlesomeness, habit, or 
love of heroic results which, unfortunately, too often 
characterize humanity. 

This condition should be read as Nature's silent but 
emphatic declamation against cathartic abuse, and she 
perseveringly increases it at every repetition, until the 
decreasing strength and increasing constipation of the 
patient silently but unmistakably show the folly of this 
abusive and insane course. These facts are applicable to 
humanity at all ages, from the cradle to the grave. 

Laxatives are Allowable. 

You ask then, " When are laxatives allowable or bene- 
ficial?" They are allowable and beneficial: 

1. In the extremely dry or solid condition of stool 
where some liquid is needed to soften it before voiding, 
and thus escape the pain, distress, and fear caused in the 
child by passing such a large, hard stool. 

2. Where there are cracks or fissures in the anus. 
These are generally caused by extreme stretching of the 
bowel in dry or difficult stool. 

3. Where the child is griped and distressed by green, 
lumpy, or slimy stools, for these always cause colicky 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 463 

pains, being the result of fermentative indigestion. There 
is no relief till they are removed, and the gas they 
develop also carried out. 

4. In the beginning of any febrile sickness, where 
the rise of temperature always checks digestion. Here we 
often find the sickness due either to the quantity or qual- 
ity of the food, and its removal gives a cure. Where this 
is not the cause of sickness, it is likely to add to the 
approaching fever by its fermentation and should always 
be removed early. 

While there are other and extraordinary conditions 
where laxatives are allowable or even demanded, the fore- 
going are the principal ones commonly presenting them- 
selves to the mother. A careful review of these four 
conditions occasionally requiring laxative treatment will 
show that they are merely the results of errors in the 
digestive tract; and being results only, a cure cannot be 
expected by removing these results. Consequently, the 
waste of blood serum, semi-digested food and strength 
by catharsis, cannot offer a rational cure or even the hope 
of lasting relief. In fact, it must be seen that its repe- 
tition only insures a permanently increasing condition of 
pain, trouble, and distress, through establishing the con- 
stipated habit. 

You will thus see that an intelligent analysis of the 
cause of constipation must always be thought out before 
any proper treatment can be applied. While we admit 
the occasional necessity for a purge, we emphatically 
deprecate repetitions of them. 

Perhaps there are few derangements that demand such 
careful study in each case to find the exact cause as does 



464 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

constipation. With the purely nursing child it does not 
occur as often as with the hand-fed one. In fact, it is 
not often present when the child is nursed only. 

Unsuitable Food Causes Constipation. 

The fact that a child becomes costive after weaning, 
and that while nursing the addition of many other foods 
also causes constipation, is undeniable proof that an im- 
proper diet is a common cause of constipation. A few 
facts are prominent and suggestive. Oily or fatty sub- 
stances are laxative, such as castor oil, olive oil, cream, 
bacon, meats, butter, and lard. These substances are also 
slow driers when compared with watery mixtures. This 
is forcibly illustrated in the results found by adding a 
tablespoonful of any oil to an ordinary bread poultice. 
If the poultice is made of bread and water alone, the 
heat and absorption of the skin where applied will dry it 
out in an hour or two, and leave nothing but dry, crum- 
bling bread. If, on the other hand, an addition of some 
one of the above oily substances be made, we will find the 
poultice soft and moist after many hours' application on 
any surface of the body. 

Now if we apply this non-drying idea to the internal 
economy, we find it generally produces the laxative re- 
sults we desire. While we could not claim that the 
purging which castor oil produces is simply due to it as 
a non-drying substance, yet we cannot deny that the soft, 
easy stool and healing effect which its use produces are 
mostly due to its oleaginous character. This means that 
it acts as a softening lubricant, reducing the friction and 
irritation which always result from the passage of dry or 
irritating feces over the mucous membrane of the bowel. 

While we cannot claim that the waste foods which 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 465 

mate the feces are dry, yet we know that when they are 
mixed with water only, they are subject to the same dry- 
ing influence from the bowel that the bread poultice is 
from the skin, and that the same rapid drying result 
follows is proven by the dry stools and constipation. 
Now this can be avoided, as in the poultice, by the ad- 
dition of enough oily or fatty material to the dietary. 

As we would not be satisfied by oiling one poultice 
and omitting it in the next, so we cannot be satisfied by 
oiling one meal and omitting it in the next. Each por- 
tion or mixture of food requires the same fatty propor- 
tions. With cream, Nature oils all the milk. 

This leads us to consider the component parts of the 
child's dietary. The mother's milk contains four per 
cent, of fat, which evidently is the amount Nature con- 
siders necessary in this particular food. But this amount 
of fat may and surely cannot be a rigid proportion for 
all classes of food. It must be varied according to the 
actual constituents of the diet used daily. 

Increase the Fats in Constipation. 

Where we find a child's bowels regular while nursing 
its mother, we should remember that the constipation 
that develops on giving other dietary to that child is 
most commonly due to a disregard of the correct propor- 
tion of fat required in the new food. You should always 
watch carefully the effect on the bowels of every change 
in the dietary, and at once vary the amounts of fat accord- 
ing to the indications — more fat for constipation, and less 
for a relaxed condition. 



466 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY 

Cow's Milk is Constipating. 

Where you change from human to cow's milk, you 
should always remember that there are three times more 
of the casein or cheese-making constituent in cow's milk 
than in human milk. As you well know, cheese is a very 
constipating food, so must you be prepared to find this 
effect on the child fed on cow's milk. Now, here is a 
condition where you must use your intelligence, and it 
illustrates also what will commonly occur with many 
kinds of food — condensed milks, prepared foods, etc. 

It would be absurd for you to give a constipating food 
and expect to always overcome that by increasing the 
fats. Rather must you adhere to Nature's four per cent, 
of fats and adjust the other food constituents to that 
amount. Now you ask, How can we substitute cow's 
milk then, without increasing the fats? Right here 
can we make application of the principle that food must 
always be adjusted to a child's digestive capacity. Un- 
less with increasing age, it is not likely that the child's 
stomach will digest more than the four per cent, of fats 
without nausea and loss of appetite. 

Decrease the Casein. 

As soon as you find the digestion impaired by increas- 
ing the fats (cream), if the child is still costive, you 
must decrease the casein in the milk till the bowels be- 
come regular. The method of doing this is fully 
explained on page 87. 

This same principle must be applied to all changes of 
food, and to be successful in doing it, you must never 
make more than one change at a time, and prove its lax- 
ative effect for two days before making another change. 
Unless you observe this precaution always, you will surely 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 467 

cause confusion, not knowing which change has dis- 
agreed with the child. All this implies that a percentage 
of fats must be used suitable to the food consumed and 
to the age of the child — more being allowed as the child 
grows older and the digestion demands it. 

What Fats are Suitable. 

As to the kind and amount of fat given daily, we find 
inherited ideas commonly obstructing us. While we 
have spoken of castor oil on account of its availability 
and the general knowledge of its use and effects, we do 
not for a moment advocate it as one of the dietetic fats, 
nor would we do so of olive oil commonly, though there 
are individual cases where the latter could well be used 
once daily. 

Animal Fats are Mostly Needed. 

Our application of the term fat, refers mostly to animal 
fats and their compounds — fresh meats. It is an abso- 
lute necessity fhat this fatty regimen should be a- food 
in the veriest sense, an item that can be continued regu- 
larly and indefinitely without the least thought or appre- 
hension of unfavorable or damaging effect on the child. 
In fact, it must go farther; it must add to instead of 
taking from the child's vigor, health, and development. 
As such it can be continually made part of the child's 
dietary, and always an essential feature thereof. 

Cream and Butter instead of God Liver Oil. 

For nursing, and hand-fed children, cream and fresh but- 
ter, cod liver oil, and bacon are the most suitable forms in 
which to administer fats. While this is not often needed 
in nursing children, there are some cases of weak milk 



468 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

that are greatly benefited by also feeding cream or one- 
fourth to one-half teaspoonful of melted butter three times 
daily. In hand-fed or bottled babies, increasing cream 
instead of milk is largely beneficial in regulating the 
child's bowels, and while doing so it gives infinitely 
greater benefit to the child constitutionally than to the 
bowels locally. In fact, this form of treatment gives the 
constitutional effect so long and worthily claimed for cod 
liver oil; and when judiciously and honestly carried out 
avoids, by these pleasant means, the necessity that often 
arises in delicate, tubercular, and scrofulous children for 
administering this often nauseous medicine. 

Meats Fed After Weaning. 

As children grow older their digestive organs become 
stronger, and the fat compounds — fresh meats — may be 
added to the dietary. Right here we run against inher- 
ited convictions, teachings, or thoughts adverse to this 
dietary. While some utterly denounce meat as unsuited 
to children just weaned, others modify their opinions by 
only admitting broths. With all it is a fear of the some- 
thing indefinitely injurious in the future. Therein lies 
the mistake. If, with it, the child's bowels are healthy 
and regulated, the appetite good, and no vomiting occurs, 
fresh meats are beneficial, and all fear for the future wel- 
fare or strength of the child will be correspondingly les- 
sened by this addition to the dietary. 

Parents should remember that milk and meats are the 
same type of food in different forms, and if the child can 
live wholly on one up to weaning, it can receive no harm 
from the moderate use of the other after weaning, espe- 
cially when it regulates the bowels and is one of the regu- 
lar articles of food they daily consume themselves. Too 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 469 

much apprehensive dread of the indefinite something 
adverse in futurity for our offspring, is shown on this sub- 
ject. They are of us and part of us, and should be con- 
sidered as such and treated accordingly. When meat 
is fed to a child it should be combined with bread or 
potato, chopped very fine, and milk excluded or les- 
sened at that meal. 

Indigestion Causes Constipation or Diarrhea. 

Digestive derangements are a common cause of consti- 
pation, and also of diarrhea. It seems strange at first 
sight that these two opposite conditions should have the 
same apparent cause; but when we remember the com- 
plexity of organs, glands, and secretions which are com- 
bined for digesting and changing our food into nourish- 
ing aliment, we can easily realize that diverse and 
opposite results may be produced according to the par- 
ticular part, gland, or secretion that is disturbed. Also 
when we look at the great diversity of foods, as well as 
quantities thereof, that are fed to our little ones daily, we 
must realize that it is an impossibility to achieve the 
same result under all these diverse conditions. 

It would be impossible to thoroughly analyze, and no 
parent can fully realize, all the unhealthy changes in 
digestion causing these opposite results. A few promi- 
nent facts should be carefully noted and always respected. 
These derangements may be caused by : 

(a) Unsuitable Food. — The new-born child should 
be fed mostly on raw or pasteurized milk until eight to 
ten months old. As it cannot digest much starchy food 
during this time, the feeding of them will cause indiges- 
tion and consequent constipation or diarrhea. While 
some babies with strong stomachs seem to bear small 



470 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

admixtures of bread, potato, oatmeal, etc.-, it is because 
the amount is small and is mixed with the mother's milk, 
which is easily digested. 

(6) Overfeeding. — Even suitable food is a most pro- 
lific cause of indigestion when fed too freely. When 
unsuitable and also overfed, there can be no success till 
these errors are corrected. This child may have both 
constipation and diarrhea alternately, and surely will 
become rickety if this dietary is continued. Certainly it 
will be cross, restless, sleepless, subject to vomiting, and 
thrive poorly. Too much food of any kind shows in the 
stools, but is not always appreciably injurious. It is a 
common thing to see a healthy nursing child show milk 
curds in the stool. These cause little inconvenience 
unless decomposition occurs from their extra amount or 
frequent repetition. 

Decomposition is evidenced by the gassy condition pf 
the stomach and bowels, the foulness of this gas, the 
restlessness and disturbed sleep, the thirst and vomiting 
of the child, and the unnaturalness of the stools in odor, 
color, and consistence. These children always appear 
hungry or thirsty, and must have the amount and quality 
of the food reduced within their digestive capacity 
before there can be any reliable or lasting improvement 
in nutrition, and subsequently in the general health and 
growth of the child. Failure at this point is sure to 
perpetuate their constipation or diarrhea, no matter 
what medicines are given, and damage the child for all 
time by laying the foundation for future diseases. 

Results of Neglecting the Dietetic Errors. 

Too great importance cannot be attached to the abso- 
lute necessity of persevering, for months if necessary, in 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 471 

our efforts to correct by dietetic means, that constipation 
or diarrhea which is due to imperfect quality or quan- 
tity of food. Perhaps in no feature of our care, thought, 
industry, and planning for the future of our children are 
we, as parents, so weak, ignorant, and unsuccessful as at 
this particular point. This is due to our training, our 
inheritance, our confidence in a mother's instinct, the 
advices of friends equally unskilled in these matters, and 
particularly to the laxity, looseness, and carelessness with 
which physicians prescribe proprietary or patent foods, 
condensed milk, etc., or refer the whole subject of feed- 
ing to the mother herself, as of too little importance to 
demand their attention. 

When we claim that this matter may lie at the bottom 
of the whole future success of that child physically and 
mentally, we do not exaggerate the actual facts. When 
we claim that it means the actual life or death of fifty 
per cent, of those hand-fed and twenty per cent, of those 
nursed every year, we merely state what statistics prove. 
The remaining ones who have lived through this abuse 
carry the evidences of bad dietetics, only too often, for the 
rest of their lives. They are living proofs against their 
dietary, instead of flattering evidences in its favor. 

Imperfect Development of the Bowel. 

This will commonly interfere with the regularity of the 
stool. When this deformed or imperfect intestinal con- 
dition is not enough to interfere with its capacity or size, 
it seldom does more than cause a sluggishness of natural 
stool. In no other way is this injurious. These children 
are comfortable, rest well, have stools of proper color, 
with fair consistence, and thrive satisfactorily. Their 
only difficulty is in voiding a stool. They need a little 



472 . FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

assistance by enema, soap, or other suppository to start 
the bowel into action. To treat these cases by laxatives is 
establishing an evil greater than the previous 'one. 
Such children usually grow out of this form of constipa- 
tion as the bowel develops, and are not damaged by it. 
Usually they are a year or more in age, strong, active, able 
to run, play, and consume solid foods freely before the 
bowel assumes regular daily habits. 

Where deformities exist in the bowel, and the lumen is 
reduced by constrictions, the tendency will be toward a 
complete obstruction of the stool. These cases are rare 
and require surgical procedure. 

Insufficient Food. 

Insufficiency of food is a common cause of constipation. 
Occasionally it is a fact that there is not enough food 
given for a daily stool. This occurs commonly for a short 
time during acute sicknesses and is a necessary or salutary 
condition, as the digestive secretions and powers of assimi- 
lation are then temporarily under check. This is Nature's 
plan. We should bear in mind that stool is mostly a re- 
sulting waste from the food; and as such to be natural 
and healthy must coincide in amount with the food 
consumed. 

This is a feature too often overlooked by parents. 
Many in their anxiety feel that the bowels must move 
regularly, in order to have health or to avoid serious com- 
plications that may arise as a consequence of constipation. 
It is needless to say that damage is often done in actual 
sickness by overzealousness in this plan. When it is 
needed that the strength of the patient be carefully 
reserved for the continued wear of a lengthened sickness, 
it is sheer folly to waste it in unnecessary efforts at stool. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 473 

Thousands of lives, young and old, are yearly sacrificed 
on the insane altar — ; 'Of course have a stool every day 
at least." Could we calculate the fortunes made and lost 
on this idea by educated (not on this point) mankind, we 
would see a wofully striking evidence of all grades of 
humanity religiously, persistently, and stupidly agreeing 
on this one point at least. Alas! for our inheritance, how 
many centuries back must this idea have been started to be 
so universally worshiped to-day, when on religion, politics, 
and all other subjects we are divided thinkers. 

Constipation in Chronic Indigestion. 

There is also a class of cases in which there is a chronic 
inability to partake of and digest a sufficient amount of 
food. These generally result from a previous condition 
of overfeeding. In these there is a debility and paleness 
proportioned to the insufficiency of food. What folly it 
would be to expect regular daily stools here. And yet 
such is commonly the case. Nothing is more important 
than always to bear in mind that all our efforts must be 
aimed at building up and developing the child by ever and 
always adding to the body more than we take from it. 
Never is the latter allowable except in acute sickness for a 
short time, and then only for a definite curative object. 

Children suffering from chronic indigestion must have 
their food changed to meet their impaired digestive 
capacity, and also receive assistance with such medicines 
(Remedy No. 43) as will aid digestion, thus enabling them 
to partake of and appropriate sufficient food to nourish 
.them well. When this is properly done, we find the 
bowels, like all other parts of the body, are strengthened 
and able to properly perform their daily duty. 



474 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Temporary Treatment of Constipation 

" How to move the baby's bowels " is the 6ft repeated 
question. The different means may be enumerated in the 
order of their suitability, using the most harmless first: 

Warm water injection, using from a tablespoonful 
upward, according to age. 

Warm soapsuds, using same amount. 

Warm water and glycerine, three of the former to one 
of the latter. The proportion of glycerine may be in- 
creased, but mothers should remember that this irritates 
very much at times, and should then be avoided. 

These injections may be given with the soft rubber ear 
syringe (Figure 3) in very young babies, and with the 
soft rubber and hard nozzle syringe (Figure 4) in older 
ones. Where injections are not convenient: 

The soap stick (Figure 43) may be used, or 

The glycerine suppository where the soap stick does 
not work satisfactorily. 

In cases of obstinate constipation not relieved by the 
above means, from one-half to one teaspoonful or more of 
sulphate of magnesia may be dissolved in one or two 
tablespoonfuls of warm water and injected with the inten- 
tion of having it retained for an hour or two to soften the 
stools before moving the bowels. Care should be taken 
to hold the bowel by pressure and prevent the immediate 
return of the liquid. If held in this way it acts the same 
as if the magnesia was swallowed. 

In some cases, one to four ounces of warm sweet oil is 
very successful as an injection. This must be given with 
a hard rubber piston syringe having a large nozzle, and 
with some force (Figure 5), as it is more difficult to use 
than water. 

In all these manipulations of the bowel, great care 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 475 

should be observed to cover well all objects entering the 
bowel with oil or vaseline. The anus and the rectum are 
very sensitive and soon become irritable when lubricants 
are not freely used. 

Soap sticks and suppositories should never be made 
larger than necessary to stimulate the bowel. They 
should be pointed and made smooth with the knife or 
pressure, and then well oiled before insertion. The ringer 
placing them should always be oiled also, and then passed 
up the bowel to the first joint. This is necessary to 
secure their retention till dissolved. 

Where none of these means succeed in moving the 
bowel, the mother is driven to use some laxative, such as 
castor oil, cascara, syrup of rhubarb, or syrup of senna, or 
Remedy No. 38. Children cannot usually swallow pills 
of any kind till they are eight or nine years old, so their 
medicines must always be in a liquid form. 

Every effort should be made to correct such constipa- 
tion by changing the diet. This can usually be done by 
adding or feeding butter, cream, lard, or sweet oil to 
children under one year old; and by adding fruits, meat, 
oatmeal, or brown bread to the dietary of those over one 
year old. 

Where medicines have to be given internally for habit- 
ual constipation, they should be given in such small quan- 
tities each morning as will produce one stool (not more) 
each day. This medicine should not be given at night, 
as larger doses are then required. 

In hand-fed children under one year old, the constipated 
habit may be frequently corrected by sweetening the 
food with dark brown sugar, or dark syrup, instead of 
white or milk sugar. 



476 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Worms. 

Let me introduce you to another scapegoat of our 
modern civilization, one on whose back is heaped an 
immense amount of our own errors. Now I would not 
deny that there are errors properly belonging to these 
repugnant creepers, and I am willing that they should 
carry all their just load; but I do object most em- 
phatically to having all sorts of dangerous ailments 
ascribed to their loathsome presence when they are not 
present in any form. 

It has become altogether too popular to believe that 
our little children, even our nursing babes, are infested 
with these entozoa. From whence could the latter 
swallow the eggs necessary to breed worms? How can 
a nursing child obtain them, and where even will a well- 
fed child obtain them? Will not proper cooking destroy 
any insect or oval life ? Will not cleanliness also obviate 
their presence in food or water? Why, then, condemn 
your own self or your neighbor of dirt and filth by 
ascribing fever or restlessness in the little babe to the 
presence of these loathsome creatures? 

True it is that they appear occasionally in children 
running around out of doors and in dirty places, eating 
reprehensible food, uncooked matter, or drinking unclean 
water; but even among these, experience shows they 
are not present one time for every hundred they are 
claimed to be. 

There are, indeed, no symptoms which belong to worms 
alone, and by which their presence can be known, except 
by seeing them. All others are only conjecture, and due to 
other causes than worms in ninety-nine out of every one. 
hundred cases where worms are commonly believed to be 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 477 

present. The majority of worm symptoms are due to 
overeating or improper food. 

Worms produce symptoms only through irritation of 
their surrounding habitat. Green fruit, raw food, over- 
eating, unsuitable dietary, all do the same thing. We 
cannot distinguish between their results by the symptoms 
produced. 

When any doubt exists about the presence of worms, 
Remedy No. 56 may be given any time or during any 
sickness, to definitely settle their presence or absence. 
This will assist in deciding the proper treatment needed 
in the sickness 




Figure 52. Thread Worms. 

Thread worms (Figure 52) , when present, can always be 
seen in the stools. As they always occupy and live only in 
the lower end of the bowel, they are usually suspected when 
the child continually shows itching of the anus. They 
are best treated by injections, such as Remedy No. 57. 
These should be repeated in small or large amounts, as 
best borne by the bowel, every few days till all are 
removed. Parents fail in removing these pests by not 
persevering in the treatment. 

. Tapeworms (Figure 53) are not common to children 
or adults, but occasionally are found in both. They also 
appear in the stools, in sections from half an inch to a 



478 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 




Figure 53. Tapeworm. 

yard or more long. These sections 
are whitish in color and bound to- 
gether like flat beads on a narrow Figure 54. Round worm. 
tape. They vary in width from one-eighth to one-half 
inch. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 479 

Children having tapeworms are pale, lean, and ner- 
vous, with voracious appetites and distressed stomach 
when empty. Only a physician can remove these pests, 
and he often finds great difficulty in doing so. 

Round worms (Figure 54) occasionally crawl up into 
the throat and cause great consternation and nausea till 
ejected from the mouth. 

Fever and convulsions are often ascribed to the pres- 
ence of worms. The writer has not seen them produce 
these results often, and thinks they act mostly by debili- 
tating the child. 

Toxemia. 

What is toxemia ? This word is derived from two Greek 
words which mean poison in the blood. Toxemia is the 
foundation or condition which causes changes in parts 
of the body and gives rise to many diseases known by 
different names. 

The infant nursing a mother, whose milk is disturbed 
by overfeeding, wrong food, mental distress, fright, or 
extraordinary labor, and consequently suffers with drowsi- 
ness, nausea, vomiting, or loose bowels, is a victim of tox- 
emia. The poison exists in the unhealthy mother's milk, 
and through digestion enters the blood of the infant. 

The hand-fed infant who receives the wrong kind of 
food, or too much of the right kind, through indigestion 
shows one or more of the above symptoms, and is also a 
victim of toxemia from imperfect digestion. 

The infant who is nursed over twelve months, and 
becomes pale, w T ith occasional vomiting and loose bowels, 
is a victim of toxemia. The mother is nursing longer 
than her milk is good. 

The mother who persists in nursing an infant with 



480 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

green stools when it does not gain over four ounces 
weekly, is also compelling her child to suffer from 
toxemia. 

The mother who weans an infant rapidly without grad- 
ually educating its digestive organs to the new food, is 
sure to cause an attack of toxemia. 

The mother who suddenly increases the amount of an 
infant's food, at once causes a toxemia. 

The mother who gives an infant all the milk it will drink 
on a hot day, instead of keeping the food at its regular 
amount or quenching the extra thirst with water only, 
is inviting an attack of toxemia. 

The mother who allows a greedy child to gorge itself 
one day on whatever it prefers, and then eat very little 
the next day, is continually causing attacks of toxemia. 

The mother who feeds a sick or feverish child milk, 
instead of water, is adding toxemia to its sickness. - 

The parent who is afraid the child will become weak 
in a sickness if not fed freely and regularly, is always 
causing toxemia by food that cannot be digested. 

The mother who persists in putting a six ounce meal 
into the two ounce stomach of her infant is surely caus- 
ing toxemia. 

The mother who feeds her infant daily an amount 
equal to forty pints daily for herself, as shown by the 
respective weights of mother and child, is surely causing 
a continued toxemia. 

These are a few of the conditions which daily cause or 
perpetuate this poisoned toxemic condition of the blood, 
in infancy and childhood. 

Mothers will ask how they can know that they are 
causing this toxemia; what symptoms it causes; if it i-s 
serious, and if serious, what saves the children's lives. 



DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES. 481 

The toxemic condition is known best by the stools 
changing from the yellow, inodorous, well-digested char- 
acter; by the vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, fever, 
sleeplessness, drowsiness, convulsions, loss of weight, or 
failure to gain in weight; and also by the bad color of 
the skin and softness of the flesh. 

Toxemia is tolerated in many by the power of the kid- 
neys to eliminate the toxic material when it is not thrown 
into the blood too rapidly. When the blood is over- 
charged with toxic or poisonous products, the child suffers 
from some form of disease, such as fever, gastritis, cholera 
infantum, meningitis, convulsions, gastroenteritis, or 
inflammation of the kidneys. 

The only treatment successful, after the dangerous 
symptoms of disease have been removed, is to feed such 
food and such amounts of it as are perfectly digested. 
This is always known in milk-fed infants by the yellow, 
well-digested, inodorous stools, there being one to three 
daily. 

In children fed on mixed foods, the stools should 
be well formed and well digested, with no strong, foul 
odors or green color. 

The words toxemia and auto-intoxication are, in many 
patients, synonymous terms. 



31 



CHAPTEK XVI. 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 



Eczema. 

This is the most common and also the most obstinate 
form of skin disease to which children are liable. 
There is no exemption in age from birth upward. Some 
of the worst cases with which we meet are in infants from 
one to six months old. 

Many children are born with the eczematous nature 
showing all over the body, and all the brothers^and 
sisters have it in some degree. In these cases it has a 
blood foundation, and all the efforts of the physician are 
directed toward everting this tendency when once it 
demonstrates its presence. This type usually runs 
through the first year at least. 

In these cases the infants are usually born with a 
tender skin, and red angry spots on the chin, cheeks or 
forehead follow washing each morning, and are aggra- 
vated by each washing or rubbing during the day. Soon 
these cases will also show the same red, raw skin about 
the buttocks, and all parts where the urine touches unless 
the greatest care is exercised in removing napkins as soon 
as they are wet. So great is this tendency in the skin to 
become eczematous, that only a total exclusion of water 
for weeks or months will keep the skin healthy and 

482 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 483 

natural. From this extreme condition of eczematous 
tendency, down to that condition where only a slight 
chafing or roughness occurs on the skin of the hands in 
cold, wet weather, during the fall or winter, we have 
all degrees and forms of eczema, and also all sizes of the 
eruption. 

Some infants will have the eruption on the face and 
head, others will be covered with it on all parts of the 
body, and yet others will show it only in small spots, 
mostly on exposed surfaces, such as the hands, neck, or 
face. 

The eruption appears in all grades of severity, from a 
slight redness of the skin, or a small pimply or watery 
eruption, to a raw inflamed wet surface, looking almost 
like an ulcer, covered with crusts, cracks, and scales. 

The most marked characteristics of eczema are obsti- 
nacy in healing, tendency to return, and in many cases, 
moisture or weeping from the surface diseased, when the 
attack is well developed. Accompanying these eruptions 
is an intolerable itching or prickling of the skin, which 
will cause even infants a week old to scratch and tear 
themselves till they bleed. This often drives them frantic 
at night, and prevents sleep. To prevent the desire to 
scratch requires the constant attention of a nurse, and 
often also it requires the hands to be muffled and fastened 
down to the sides while sleeping. This fastening is best 
done by a piece of cotton, two or three inches wide, 
passed under the back and then fastened to each wrist, 
giving room enough to move a little, but not 
sufficient to reach the neck or face. Infants 
sleep well with this fastening, as it prevents them 
scratching, and thus starting up the intolerable itching, 
which is always worse at night. 

In many infants, eczema is due to improper food. It 



484 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

will often be aggravated by the amount or quality of the 
food taken, necessitating the strictest dietetic rules in 
order to obtain a cure. General debility, imperfect 
hygiene, teething, or any local irritation may cause an 
eruption of vesicles. 

The tendency to eczema is much lessened at the end of 
the first year, the child apparently growing out of it. 

In treatment, the family physician should always be 
put in charge. In young infants all cleaning and wash- 
ing must be done with olive oil, or disinfecting starch 
water. No soap or water are allowable. The diet should 
be lessened, and the bowels kept slightly relaxed; always 
aiming at such food as will give yellow, well digested, 
soft stools The irritated surfaces must be kept dry and 
excluded from the air by light, cool dressings, neatly 
fitted and stitched on so as not to increase the heat of the 
part, as heat always increases the itching. Under these 
dressings an ointment (Remedies No. 80 and 81) must be 
kept constantly applied, and covered with paraffine paper. 
Where the surface is moist and keeps wetting the dress- 
ings, a powder (Remedy No. 109) should be dusted on 
frequently until this moisture is stopped, then the oint- 
ment can be applied as above. Where crusts form on the 
skin, a liberal dressing with sweet oil will soon soften and 
remove them. Mothers must remember that eczema will 
always continue if not completely excluded from air and 
moisture. 

The child suffering once from eczema is always liable 
to a return of the disease in the fall, when it is too much 
bathed, when improperly fed, or exposed to cold winds. 
When there is the slightest tendency to a return, all 
washing should be stopped immediately, and cleansing 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 485 

effected with sweet oil and very little rubbing. The oil 
must be applied very frequently to keep the skin soft. 

In general eczema, where all parts of the skin are 
badly diseased, recourse must be had to the mask to give 
protection from the intense itching and scratching. 

Here the skin is well disinfected with Remedy No. 
94, the ointment, Remedy No. 80, applied freely, and cov- 
ered with pieces of gauze, leaving openings for eyes, nose, 
and mouth. This process is applied to all diseased sur- 
faces, and with thin cool bandages kept applied for days 
without removal. When removed, all unhealed parts are 
again covered, till a cure is obtained. Such cases require 
the constant attention of a nurse. 

Chilblains. 

Chilblains may be called embryonic frostbites. They 
bother some people a great deal, especially those with 
habitually cold hands and feet. It appears that the 
blood circulation in the extremities of these people is not 
vigorous enough to secure a safe temperature at all times. 
They are usually dyspeptics who cannot consume enough 
food to keep themselves vigorous, or people who wear 
thin or tight shoes in cold weather. 

Chilblains appear commonly on the feet and hands 
after those parts have been severely chilled. They look 
like red, swollen spots, shiny and tender, particularly 
when brought near the heat. In aggravated cases, blisters 
and sores may follow, and these are very difficult to heal. 
Any exposed part may develop chilblains after a severe 
exposure to cold. On the feet they become very tender 
and irritating, and cause enough swelling to make wear- 
ing the regular shoes very difficult. Those who suffer in 
this way should avoid warming the hands and feet at a 



486 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

fire, should wear loose, thick, warm shoes, and should 
have attention to secure a better digestive condition and 
better health generally. Locally, the sore spots should 
be painted with Remedy No. 92 twice daily, or tincture 
of iron once each week. Bathing the tender part in real 
hot water will greatly relieve the itching and the burning. 

Frostbite. 

Frostbites of the milder form, where the frozen part 
is not entirely destroyed, are quite common. In these 
cases the parts frozen first turn white and shrink in size. 
After being thawed out they swell greatly, and become 
red and very tender. A frozen part should be thawed 
out very slowly with cold water or snow, and then should 
not be brought near the heat for some days. Early heat 
is likely to cause great soreness, weeping and blistering 
of the skin. In severe frostbites, sores follow from 
sloughing of the skin. As the frozen tissue has lost part 
of its vitality, great care must be exercised against sub- 
sequent exposure. An equable temperature is the best 
aid in the cure. Locally, zinc ointment (Remedy No. 80) 
makes a suitable dressing. The frozen parts remain 
weak and tender for months. 

Warts. 

These are caused by an unusual growth of the outer 
layer of the skin. They are very common in some chil- 
dren, and supposed to be caught from other children 
having them. This is, of course, an absurdity. The 
exact cause of them is not known. Usually they dis- 
appear as the child grows older. 

Many try to remove them by caustic applications, and 
by burning them. These methods are painful and unsuc- 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 487 

cessful. The writer has found them easily removed by 
loosening the skin from around them with the point of a 
sharp penknife. This is done without any pain by cut- 
ting down all around them little by little till blood 
appears in the crack or cut made. Then with the thumb 
nail any wart, large or small, can be easily peeled off. 
The writer has followed this method for over thirty 
years, and always with success and very little pain. If 
peeled off cleanly they will not grow again. A little 
powdered nitrate of lead or burned alum applied to the 
raw surface after peeling will effectually check any 
tendency to grow again, even when not perfectly peeled 
off. 

Red Grum: Strophulus. 

This is a term applied by old nurses to a red, pimply, 
coarse eruption appearing on young babies. It is usually 
caused by keeping the infant too warm, too wet, or both. 
It generally appears first under the diapers, and in severe 
cases becomes eczematous, covering the whole body. 

The treatment consists in keeping the infant dry all 
the time, and not so warm as formerly. Where very sore, 
the diapers should be left open and the infant cleaned or 
washed with a little sweet oil. No soap or water should 
be allowed to touch the sore parts. An ointment (Remedy 
No. 81), should be applied continuously till all rash 
disappears and the skin becomes strong again. 

Washing always makes these cases worse, and no treat- 
ment will remove the eruption where washing with soap 
and water is continued. 

A dry or oily skin, with cooler clothing, will quickly 
remove the eruption. 



488 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Prickly Heat: Milliaria. 

This is a fine, red rash appearing over any or all parts 
of the surface. It appears in adults as well as in the 
youngest infants, and shows generally in very hot weather. 
It is due to too much heat and perspiration, and shows 
mostly about the neck and upper part of the breast, but 
often covers the whole body. It is accompanied by a 
light itching, or tingling, of the parts. When the rash 
is closely examined, many little fine vesicles of perspira- 
tion will be found under the cuticle. They cannot 
escape to the surface, and thus form minute blisters. 
These dry, and the skin peels off in a few days. 

Cooler clothing is always needed in these cases. The 
surface may be powdered freely, and a dose of citrate of 
magnesia given internally. With cooler weather or less 
clothes this eruption will disappear in a week or less. 

Prickly heat resembles scarlet fever in appearance ; but 
the absence of fever and sore throat will enable any one 
to distinguish between them. 

Careful examination will show this rash thickest under 
the perspiring part of the clothing. 

Stomach Rash; Tooth Rash. 

Many different forms of rash appear on the skin of 
young infants, which cannot be classified under any 
distinct name. Each child seems to exhibit a type of 
eruption peculiar to itself during the first two years of 
life. While these eruptions appear under like conditions, 
there is perhaps a similarity among them in color only. 
One is large and coarse, being in size equal to a split pea, 
slightly elevated above the skin, scattered loosely over 
the surface and red in color. The other is very fine and 
thickly placed, red in color also, and gives the skin a 



SKIN DISEASES AXD DEFORMITIES. 489 

rough appearance. Between these two are all sized 
erythematous patches, or blotches, and ali sized eruptions 
of a red color. Parents call these different appearing 
eruptions stomach rcCsh or tooth rash, according as they 
think them due to a deranged stomach or cutting teeth. 
Usually some laxative clearing out the bowels (Remedy 
No. 38) will relieve the digestive organs and make a cure. 
They all pass away in a few days with lighter food and 
cooler surroundings. 

Birth Marks; Mother's Marks; Moles. 

These are red or bluish marks, showing commonly on 
the face, scalp, or neck of newly-born infants. They 
may be any size, from a pea upward, and usually grow 
rapidly during the first two years. These marks are 
technically called nevi, and may remain level with the 
skin or rise above it. Each mark is a mass of fine blood- 
vessels, and if wounded bleeds very freely. It should 
always be remoA^ed by the surgeon while the infant is 
small. Some of these cannot ever be removed. 

Moles are dark spots of pigment deposited in the skin 
or on the surface. They may be merely a stained spot 
without deformity, or they may be enlargements or 
growths, with few or many hairs growing from them, 
causing a very ugly appearance when appearing on 
the face or neck. They can be removed by a skillful 
physician, but there should be no tampering with them 
otherwise 

Fever Blisters; Cold Sores. 

These appear mostly on the face, about the mouth or 
nose; most commonly in colds and fevers, and when 
large are quite painful. They first appear as a crop of 
small blisters, set closely together and rising above the 



490 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

skin. These blisters soon break and form one large, 
irregular-shaped sore, which requires a week or more to 
heal. When these sores appear on the lips they are 
very sensitive, and painful if touched. 

Applications of ichthyol give relief. Zinc ointment 
may also be applied with benefit. They soon pass away 
with the convalescence of the patient. In fact, the 
appearance of these blisters is hailed by most people as an 
evidence of improvement. 

Hives; Urticaria or Nettle-rash. 

This is a common ailment in children, and among some 
adults also. It is characterized by the sudden swelling 
of ridges or clusters of red weals with whitish tops. 
They may appear anywhere on the surface, and last a few 
hours, to be followed by successive crops for two or three 
days. These weals are usually the size of the finger-nail, 
or larger; are very itchy, and when numerous cause con- 
tinual scratching. They often prevent sleep, and at 
times are accompanied by nausea and temporary loss of 
appetite. Some patients are troubled with them con- 
tinually. 

Hives are generally caused by unsuitable food. It is 
usually found that some particular diet causes them in 
one individual, and not in another. Shell fish, mush- 
rooms, sour fruit, such as berries, and some kinds of 
sausage are common causes of hives. In some the cause 
cannot be found; but it is undoubtedly some poison 
irritating the nerve centers which causes this sudden 
eruption on the surface. It is only nerve irritation that 
can cause their sudden appearance. 

The treatment usually adopted is some cathartic, to 
sweep out the irritating cause, and a light diet of suitably 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 491 

cooked food for some days after. Locally, cool or hot 
applications, soda, and powdered borax may be applied. 
Some find relief in applying flour, but the virtue is often 
in the coolness of the application. Cool baths are sooth- 
ing to the itchy part. 

Children often produce a rash similar to hives by 
handling nettles. An intense itching sensation follows 
this also, and lasts for hours, with little relief except by 
cooling the itchy part. 

Where hives recur frequently, a physician should be 
consulted, to ascertain the probable cause of irritation. 

In those subject to hives the daily use of a small dose 
of laxative salts (Remedy No. 40) each morning to 
secure one to three free stools daily will be of advantage, 
and generally stop the return of the hives. 

Chafing ; Cracks ; Roughness. 

This means that the outer layer of the skin is disturbed 
and irritated from unnatural or unhealthy surroundings or 
applications. These are generally moisture, cold, and 
wind; and they produce chafing, cracks or roughness 
according to the location on the body and the age of the 
child. 

On the hands, wrists, face, and legs there is exposure 
to cold and wind in children able to run and play. With 
these we will have roughness, redness, and even cracks 
in cold weather. All such parts should be covered to 
protect them from the wind, and vaseline applied at night, 
or a mixture of beeswax and lard (Remedy No. 81) 
makes an excellent dressing, acting like a varnish over 
the skin and not drying off for a long time. This applica- 
tion will heal the most obstinate cases of roughness and 
cracks, if constantly applied. 



492 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

In the folds of the skin on fat babies where two sur- 
faces come together, redness, chafing and ulcers form. 
This is due to the confined perspiration and continual 
decomposition always following such an unusual moist 
state. Mothers try to heal these cracks or folds by care- 
ful washing and powdering, but this will cure only the 
light attacks; the very sore ones require a mild cleaning 
with olive oil and soft muslin very often. Then they 
should be dressed freely with an antiseptic powder 
(Remedy No. 110), so as to secure enough air in the folds 
to insure a dry condition and avoid decomposition. In 
very deep folds of the neck and groin of fat babies, little 
strips of muslin or gauze should also be placed and 
changed when they become wet. Regular dressing in 
this way will rapidly cure these tender parts of the skin. 
Plenty of the powder should be applied several times 
daily, always wiping out the former dressing before 
applying the new one. Do not wash, but always clean 
them with the sweet oil before applying the powder. 

Sunburn. 

Sunburn occurs to those of delicate skin or to those 
who are confined to the shade most of their time. The 
effect of a strong sun is to cause an inflammation and 
redness like a slight scald. This is generally very sore 
and painful for a couple of days, and then the skin peels 
off. Any oily application will protect a tender skin 
from the air till the soreness passes away. A very good 
dressing is the-beeswax ointment (Remedy No. 81). 

Freckles. 

These are common to some children in the summer 
time. They usually pass away when sunshiny weather 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 493 

ceases. When there is any necessity for their removal, 
the mixture (Remedy No. 105) will be successful. If 
applied too freely, it may irritate the skin. 

Freckles are due to extra pigment in the spots, and the 
lotion must penetrate deeply enough to destroy this extra 
color before its benefit is apparent. 

Wet and Excoriated Surfaces. 

Moisture from any source, either natural or diseased, 
when allowed to remain in contact with the skin for a 
long time, is sure to produce redness and excoriations. 
Nature designed the skin for a dry surface, and only in 
this condition can it be healthy and comfortable. The 
moisture from a cold in the head soon produces redness 
and soreness of the upper lip. 

The continuous contact of wet napkins soon causes red- 
ness and tenderness of the skin over the groins and hips. 
The moisture from perspiration in folds of the skin on 
fat babies early results in excoriations. 

Too much moisture from frequent washing in some 
children removes the smooth, oily secretions of the skin 
glands too perfectly, and a resulting irritation and tender- 
ness follows. This is especially the case where much 
soap is used. 

Eczema, one of the most obstinate of skin diseases, is 
soon established in any of those irritated surfaces where 
proper precautions are not taken to keep the part dry, 
and otherwise protect it from irritation. Other skin 
diseases may also soon be established on these sore parts. 

The first requisite in treatment is removal of the 
moisture, and the second is dressing the surface with a 
bland, non-irritating, non-drying, tough, pliable and 
adhesive ointment that will shut out the moisture. 



494 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Remedy No. 81 does this effectually. Continuous dry- 
ness must be maintained, no matter how much trouble or 
ingenuity is needed to secure it, and it must be suc- 
cessfully perpetuated always after. 

Sore Head; Milk Crust. 

This affection, as commonly met with, is due to neglect 
in regularly removing the free secretion of the sebaceous 
glands on the scalp. The secretion is of a greasy, ad- 
herent nature, and over the fontanel, or opening in an 
infant's head, requires extra attention to keep it regularly 
softened and washed off. When allowed to remain, it 
soon decomposes and forms a firm crust, which irritates 
the skin underneath, and thus the commencement of the 
sore head is established. 

All the treatment needed to prevent this is cleanliness 
at this point in well-fed, healthy children. Timidity in 
washing this spot is commonly the cause of the disease. 

When a sore has been established here, the same treat- 
ment with some oxide of zinc or sulphur ointment, 
Remedies (No. 80 and No. 83) constantly applied will 
soon effect a cure. 

There is a type of this sore head which commonly 
occurs in children who, though healthy, are improperly 
fed. Generally, in these cases, we find too much effort 
at cleanliness assists in perpetuating the irritation by 
causing eczema. Here the skin of the face and the rest 
of the body becomes irritated also. These are difficult 
cases to treat, and require the attention of the physician 
as soon as the above remedies do not give relief. 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 495 

Diet in Sore Heads. 

Many of these sore heads will require continuous atten- 
tion for weeks or months to make a complete recovery. 
Generally, they are associated with a disturbed digestive 
condition, which if not corrected, prevents a perfect and 
lasting cure. 

The condition of the mother's health always requires 
careful attention when she is nursing the child, as the 
irritation may be perpetuated by the character of her milk. 

When the child is hand-fed, the strictest care must be 
observed that the character and amount of food are 
adjusted carefully to the child's perfect digestive capacity, 
as shown by the stools. If this feature is overlooked, the 
local treatment is generally a failure. 

There is no danger to be apprehended from healing 
these sores. The old inherited idea of danger, from 
"driving the eruption in" and thus affecting the brain, 
has in fact no foundation whatever. These cases the 
writer has seen cured regularly, and in thirty-five years 
has never seen any injury result from curing a case of 
this kind. 

Many of these cases must be treated without any wash- 
ing for days or even weeks, sweet oil and ointments, 
applied with a mask, being the only dressings allowable. 
(See Eczema.) 

If the treatment is done systematically, a cure can gen- 
erally be obtained in one or two weeks; but there is very 
great liability to a return if errors in diet are com- 
mitted. 

Some cases will continue for months, alternately 
improving and relapsing. These children are born with 
this tendency. Their blood and digestive organs con- 
tinue to show trouble, till the child finally grows out of it. 



496 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

During all this time the child's sleep is disturbed by 
the most intolerable itching or stinging, which no medi- 
cines are able to allay. Even after the surface is cured, 
this itching often continues for weeks. 

Deformities. 

Deformities are only possible with weak, crooked, or 
broken bones. Weak bones are always present in the 
young infant. In some they are weaker than in others, and 
in many they continue weak; or, after growing strong, 
they again become weak through imperfect nutrition of 
the child and absorption of the lime in the bones. Par- 
ents must remember that continued or repeated pressure 
always in the same direction, will cause deformity by 
bending the soft bone of the very young child, or of the 
older, rickety one. 

In this way we find different deformities produced in 
the head. An infant lying continually on the back, in 
this weak bone stage, will become flat headed posteri- 
orly. This gives a wide appearance to the head when 
seen from the front, and a short appearance when seen 
from the side. 

An infant always placed on one side while sleeping, 
will soon show the top of the head pushed to one side, 
giving it a crooked, one-sided appearance. 

When we look at spinal curvatures, we realize again 
the effect of too much pressure in one direction. An 
infant with soft spinal bones, when left continually lying 
on the back, will have the natural graceful curves of the 
spine straightened out and the back assume a stiff, gro- 
tesque, uncomely appearance. Too much pressure on one. 
hip, as when continually nursing on one breast, or seated 



SKIN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 



497 



continually on one knee, will spring the spine to one side, as 
in Figure 55. This is particularly seen in young children 
with one short leg. They invariably have curvature of the 
spine from standing most on the long leg. 

Bow -legs and knock-knees are another illustration of 
deformity from pressure on weak bones. 

All these results should impress mothers with the neces- 
sity of variety in the care and handling of infants while 




Figure 55. Curved Spine. 

the bones are soft and pliable; also it should strongly 
impress the mother with the absolute necessity of always 
securing perfect nutrition in the infant to give rapid 
and firm growth of bone. This can only be guaranteed 
by yellow, inodorous, well-digested stools at all times. 
All other kinds of stool are evidences of danger, when 
long continued. 

32 



498 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Where children show these bone deformities, a physi- 
cian should be called at once and his treatment carefully 
followed out. It will probably require some months to 
correct this weakness, and secure a healthy, vigorous 
child. 

Protruding Ears. 

Some mothers are greatly worried by the size and 
prominence of the baby's ears. They hope that a little 
tape made cap device, which fits over and compresses 
them to the head, will overcome this prominence. 
Experience shows this to be a failure as a cure, but it prob- 
ably prevents greater prominence by the ear being turned 
forward during the sleeping hours when moving the 
head. Only an operation reducing the depth of cartilage 
behind the ear will make a reliable cure. This may be 
done while the child is very small, and leaves no mark. 

Deformed Hands and Feet. 

Occasionally an infant is born with an extra finger or 
toe, which has no muscular attachments and should be at 
once removed. 

Deformities such as club-foot are much more common 
and of greater gravity. These were largely permanent 
till the skill of American surgeons devised a thoroughly 
successful operation for their correction. Now it is in- 
excusable for a parent to allow this deformity to continue. 
It should be corrected early, before the muscles of the 
limb have become impaired from inactivity and want of 
use in the deformed shape. The worst club-foot can be 
made correct and like a natural foot by a skillful operator. 

Ingrowing toe nail is inevitable in the formation of 
some feet. The edges are deep and press low in the 



SKJN DISEASES AND DEFORMITIES. 499 

flesh, soon cutting the skin, even with the widest of 
shoes. In these cases the mother should regularly press 
a little cotton under these edges to raise them up, and 
also prevent injury to the skin. Care must be taken in 
trimming the nails to leave the corners projecting beyond, 
so they will not cut the flesh. The center of the nail 
may be scraped thin also, so the sides will spring up 
easily. Where this is not successful, the physician should 
be called in to remove these edges. 

Tongue Tie. 

Thirty years ago the writer was frequently asked to 
cut an infant for this tied condition of the tongue. He 
has been asked to do it once only in the last fifteen years. 
Why is this change in parental thought? I have never 
seen an infant demanding an incision under the tongue 
to relieve it of a tied or restricted condition. The little 
fold of membrane under the tongue is present always 
and requires no division to give the tongue room to pro- 
trude. Tongue tie never retards talking. A child who 
can nurse has enough length of tongue to talk with, and 
certainly sufficient for all other purposes. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 
GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 



Premature Birth. 

An infant is often born before the full term of gesta- 
tion is completed. This may occur four to ten weeks 
before the proper time, and yet the infant live. Of course, 
the nearer it is to the full term, the better is the chance 
of living. Such infants are very red and tender, due to 
the imperfect condition of the skin. 

The main necessities in these cases are to preserve' the 
heat and adjust the food to the imperfect digestive 
power. For the former necessity incubators are used 
when the infant is very young and weak, because in them 
a steady, artificial temperature is more easily obtained than 
outside. Where a child can take and digest nourish- 
ment properly, there is always a good prospect of its living. 
Where an infant continues to wail feebly when well heated, 
and cannot sleep, it will probably die. Such cases are 
usually too immature. 

Children have lived and grown well when only three 
pounds in weight at birth, but these are rare cases. 

Where an incubator is not at hand, the infant should 
be rolled in cotton batting and kept warm by surround- 
ing it with bottles of hot water, in a warm place near a 
stove, so that it will also breathe warm air and prevent 

500 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 501 

cooling through the lungs. These infants should only be 
rubbed with olive oil, and never washed with soap and 
water. The rubbing may be frequent, twice or three 
times daily, being careful to avoid exposure to cold. 

The diet must be very dilute cream and boiled water, 
sweetened and fed every hour, not giving more than two 
to three teaspoonfuls at each feeding. One part of cream 
to ten or twelve parts of water is generally strong enough 
food. This may be increased in strength as the infant grows 
older and its yellow stools show its ability to digest well 
what it has received. Where it is too weak to nurse, it 
should be fed from a spoon or dropper. When very 
weak, a rubber tube may be passed into the stomach and 
the child fed through it. 

Meningitis ; Cerebrospinal Meningitis ; Spinal 
Meningitis. 

It simplifies this subject to couple these three diseases, 
or names, together under one heading. 

The brain and spinal cord are continuous with each 
other. They are covered by membranes, which are also 
continuous with each other. These covering membranes 
are technically called meninges, and an inflammation of the 
meninges is called meningitis. 

Usually, inflammation of the membranes covering the 
brain alone is called meningitis. 

Inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and 
spinal cord is termed cerebro- spinal meningitis. 

Inflammation of the membranes covering the cord 
alone is termed spinal meningitis. 

Meningitis is indicated by delixium, stupor, and coma. 

Cerebro-spinal meningitis has, in addition to these 
symptoms, stiffening of the muscles generally, especially 



502 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

those of the back, so that the child's head is drawn back- 
ward, and the body is hooped, or bowed upward. He 
then rests only on his head and heels. This shape can- 
not be changed, and is nearly always continuous in well- 
marked cases, with paroxysmal increases at times. 

In spinal meningitis, all the latter symptoms from the 
muscles and the back are present, but the head remains 
clear and free from complications. 

As these are all very serious and dangerous diseases, the 
physician should be called immediately. 

Many of these cases where both head and spine are 
affected, die in a few hours. Some recover slowly after 
a very tedious and painful illness, but frequently are 
maimed at some point in the head or limbs. Hearing, 
speech, sight, or motion, may be partly lost. 

Cases with spinal complications may appear in the 
epidemic form, and are usually very fatal. 

Attacks of meningitis generally commence with fever 
and severe headache, with avoidance of light and noise, as 
these are painful. With these symptoms there is usually 
great nervousness or stupor. 

Tubercular Meningitis. 

In this form of meningitis we find the inflammation 
caused by tubercular infection, and following the usual 
slow but fatal course of this disease when it is very 
severe or involves vital organs in the adult. 

Ordinary meningitis is rapid and clearly defined in 
its course. Its symptoms are very decided — high fever, 
severe pain in the head, intense nervousness, avoidance 
of light and sound, loss of appetite, and constipation. 
These symptoms are easily understood and are generally 
clearly read by all around the patient. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 503 

Unfortunately, in tubercular meningitis these clearly 
defined symptoms are absent in the beginning, and com- 
monly the child has reached a dangerous condition before 
the physician is called in. Usually he complains little, 
has a slight headache, low fever, no heat in the head, is 
pale most of the time, has little appetite, vomits occasion- 
ally and desires to sleep. He is nervous or stupid, and lies 
on his side well curled up, with eyes away from the light. 

He may present the same picture from many forms of 
mild sickness which have a slight fever, and are accom- 
panied by little or no danger. 

Tubercular meningitis does not often appear in infants 
under two years old. It is mostly seen in school children, 
but is not very frequent, when compared with most 
infantile diseases. It appears mostly in delicate children, 
who are poor eaters, and fond of books; usually in those 
inheriting poor constitutions. 

Unfortunately, it is little amenable to treatment, the 
mortality being very high. Some physicians contend 
that it is always fatal. 

With such a picture as the above, the best of medical 
treatment is certainly demanded very early. 

Parents having thin, sallow children, with fastidious 
appetites, frequent headaches, and a fondness for books, 
should keep the possibility of tubercular invasion in mind, 
and make these little ones live in the open air as much as 
possible and in school as little as possible. 

Paralysis ; Poliomyelitis. 

This is a condition appearing at any age in childhood, 
from the new-born baby to the youth of puberty. In 
the newly born it arises usually from some difficulty or 
slowness in labor, or an injury from the use of forceps. 



504 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The paralysis in these cases varies from a slight affec- 
tion of one side of the face, or a portion of it, to a com- 
plete loss of power in the whole side. This is, of 
course, dependent on the severity of the injury. The 
general tendency of these cases is toward recovery; but 
where the injury is severe, the paralysis may be perma- 
nent in part of the area affected. This is very rare. 

In children from one to three years old, we most com- 
monly find paralysis following convulsions. These chil- 
dren usually suffer from some inflammation of the 
brain, and the attacks are most frequent in warm weather. 
Usually the paralysis affects one leg and arm or either 
of them. Most of these cases which recover from the 
first sickness, improve gradually jbeom the paralysis also, 
but many remain more or less lame in either a hand or 
a foot. 

There is a paralysis more or less severe commonly fol- 
lowing diphtheria. This may show at any point on the 
body, and is dangerous to life when it affects vital organs, 
such as the heart. The tendency in any but these cases 
is always toward recovery. The attacks vary from the 
slight difficulty in swallowing or talking to a complete 
paralysis of all the limbs, and may last from two weeks 
to several months. 

This type of paralysis does not follow one side of the 
body like the other forms, but affects both sides equally 
in most cases. 

Where it affects the heart or respiratory organs, the 
patient is likely to die in a few days, becoming quite blue 
before death, from imperfect aeration of the blood. These 
cases die from suffocation. 

In older children of the syphilitic or tubercular type we 
meet with diseases of the spinal bones, where they soften, 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 505 

decay, and become misplaced, thus pressing on the spinal 
cord and causing generally an incurable paralysis of the 
limbs below the diseased point. 

We also find attacks of poliomyelitis in a few children. 
This is a diseased condition of the spinal cord itself, caus- 
ing paralysis of a few muscles in one leg. This is com- 
monly caused by a shock or jar as in jumping, or by 
lying on the damp, cool ground while heated. 

Occasionally, these cases make a perfect recovery, but 
many of them show a slight, permanent lameness due to 
the death of some small nerves in the leg, and conse- 
quent loss of power in the muscles they supply. 

Cerebro-spinal, or spinal, meningitis occasionally occurs 
alone or as an epidemic in some localities. Frequently, 
with this, we find very marked paralysis, as well as 
deformity during the sickness. These patients are slow 
to recover, and some are permanently paralyzed. In these 
patients the infection affects the whole nervous organ- 
ization, but in some the irritation is greatest in the spinal 
cord, causing great stiffness in the muscular system, par- 
ticularly in the back, and also bowing of it till the child 
rests on the head and heels only. 

Occasionally we meet cases of paralysis resulting from 
blows, falls and other injuries to the nerves or spinal 
cord. The recovery here depends on the severity of the 
original injury. 

All forms of paralysis require the immediate attention 
of the physician, as the recovery is obtained by early, 
prompt attention, before the paralyzed muscles shrink 
and lose their tone and strength. This demands the 
early and continued use of electricity and massage with 
other treatment also. 



506 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Diseased Bones; Hip Joint Disease; Spinal Disease. 

When bones become softened down in parts so as to 
lose their organization and form pus, we have the worst 
cause for deformity that can exist. These soft, diseased 
bones are mostly tubercular in character, and partake of 
the usual obstinacy of tubercle in any structure. It is 
always very doubtful how much repair is possible in 
these cases. 

Deformities from diseased bone are seen most com- 
monly in the spine and hip joint. It is this form of 
trouble which causes the hunchback of great deformity 
and the extreme cripple in walking. 

Any bone may degenerate in this way and cause months 
or years of suffering. A small piece of dead bone the 
size of a bean will require months at least for its removal 
by Nature's slow plan. In some situations it will remain 
for years before it is cast off, and in some other situations 
it will wear the patient's life out in the effort to remove 
it. Diseased bones usually appear in weak constitutions 
that are poorly nourished. Generous nutrition persist- 
ently followed out with plenty of fresh air and sunshine, 
is the only protection these frail constitutions have 
against this degenerating tendency. An attack of rheu- 
matism or a slight injury is always a serious matter in these 
subjects, as it frequently is the commencing change in 
future degeneration. 

The treatment in diseased bones is largely surgical. 
This should be done as soon as the surgeon deems it right, 
and parents should call him in early, in order to save the 
strength of the child. The most nourishing diet and 
most invigorating medicines are needed to sustain the 
child's strength against the constant drain of a diseased 
bone. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS 507 

Growing Pains. 

Many children suffer from pains and aches of a very 
fleeting nature. These are mostly in the limbs and back. 
They are felt after playing, or after a night's rest, and 
pass away generally after a few hours, to return at some 
uncertain time. 

These are called growing pains by the parents and 
populace generally, and no attention or treatment is con- 
sidered necessary unless they cripple the child for a time. 
What is meant by calling them "growing pains" is uncer- 
tain; this expression is another inheritance. 

These pains are rheumatic in character and parents 
should understand them as such. To the physician these 
pains are important, not on account of their severity, but 
as indicating a possible involvement of the heart in a 
rheumatic way. 

Children suffer very little pain from heart disturbance. 
In most cases they do not recognize any irritation there, and 
consequently allow it to proceed till it has time to make 
irreparable changes in this most important organ. 

As nearly all heart diseases commence in a rheumatism 
of that organ, it behooves parents to always pay close 
attention to all so-called "growing pains." They should 
have their physician examine the child's heart very 
carefully, and repeat the examination daily till all evidence 
of these pains has disappeared and the child is again as 
playful and strong as usual. 

Where there is also any fever, short breath, palpitation. 
fluttering, or distress in the chest, this should be consid- 
ered of great importance, and cause uneasiness and worry 
till all are removed. 



508 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY 

Rheumatism. 

This disease is the cause or beginning of nearly all 
heart affections. It is manifested in childhood mostly as 
"growing pains." Parents have in the past associated 
these pains nearly always with the growth of the child, 
and as such are natural, they say, and require no treat- 
ment. This is a serious mistake. So-called growing 
pains may be indicators of more serious trouble in or 
around the heart. While growing pains usually pass off 
and leave no traces afterward this cannot be said of the 
same irritation in the heart. Unfortunately, rheumatic 
disturbance of the heart causes no pain and little irrita- 
tion while it is making serious changes in this most im- 
portant organ of the body. Children pay no attention 
to it until it is almost too late for any beneficial treatment. 
Adults even will allow it to proceed to a dangerous state 
before seeking medical aid, on account of the absence of 
pain. 

Eheumatism is a migratory disease traveling from point 
to point in the body, leaving one part and appearing in 
another. As there is no means of knowing where it will 
go next, physicians are always on the alert hunting for its 
new location. In this way they are continually examin- 
ing the heart when there is a suspicion of rheumatism in 
the patient, and doing all possible to check its ravages. 
Where rheumatism once affects the heart seriously, it is 
likely to leave an impairment that is not amenable to 
treatment, and the heart will always remain as a damaged 
organ. As it is generally a repeating disease coming 
after severe exertion, exposure, and chilling, parents must 
realize how important it is to always commence prompt 
treatment in the beginning of each seizure. 

The treatment should be promptly commenced by the 



GENERAL DISEASES AXD DERANGEMENTS. 509 

physician in order to check the progress of rheumatism. 
Fortunately, the bad results formerly traced to attacks of 
this malady are rare now. Early treatment is successful 
in the great majority of cases at the present day. 

Fever and soreness of a limb or any joint, no matter 
how small, should always indicate a probable rheumatism. 
An attack of St. Vitus' dance is generally considered an 
evidence of the rheumatic taint, and demands prompt 
attention. These patients should always be clothed in 
flannel, to prevent the sudden cooling of the surface which 
occurs with cotton clothes. This sudden cooling induces 
rheumatism very often in this class of patients. During 
these attacks patients should not use much meat, as this 
embarrasses the already overloaded kidneys. 

All drinks should be alkaline, such as soda, Apollinaris. 
lithia, and many other carbonated waters. They should 
be used freely under the directions of the physician. 

Enlarged Glands. 

These are very common in childhood, as they are likely 
to follow sore throats and the epidemic diseases of that 
age. Any disease causing sores in the mouth and throat 
is likely to be followed by enlargement of the glands of 
the neck. Even common colds will cause it in children 
who have previously suffered that way. Diphtheria, 
tonsilitis, scarlet fever, measles, sore mouth, and thrush 
are common causes. The tendency in the glands is to 
swell, and if not promptly treated, then form pus which 
should be opened early to avoid scars on the neck. These 
should receive steady and prompt treatment to secure an 
early healing. 

Burns and blisters on the hand or arm may cause swell- 
ing of the glands under the arm; and all injuries on the 



510 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

foot or legs may enlarge the glands in the groin through 
infecting them. 

Where the glands form pus slowly, one after another, 
and refuse to heal with careful treatment, we always 
suspect them of being tubercular. All will heal with the 
proper treatment, though some will take months to do so. 
A physician should always treat them. Remedy No. 59 
may be used in mild cases till the physician prescribes. 

Where these glands enlarge frequently, parents must 
remember that there is some cause producing these fre- 
quent returns. Generally it occurs in pale and delicate 
children, or those having enlarged tonsils or bad ca- 
tarrhal discharges. Whatever the cause, it should receive 
immediate attention and persistent treatment till all 
enlargement disappears. A child in good, robust, vigor- 
ous health, with no weakened spots, seldom shows any 
glandular enlargements. The treatment should continue 
till the child shows the ruddy color and hard flesh of 
good health. In this condition the blood is compara- 
tively immune to glandular invasion, except in the tuber- 
cular, and in these this condition of color and flesh is 
the greatest protection available. 

Iron (Remedy No. 60) and cod liver oil are two of the 
most powerful agents, with fresh air and sunshine, in 
securing this result. These remedies should be alter- 
nated. Cod liver oil should be given to these pale, thin 
children internally, externally, and eternally. 

Scrofula. 

This term was applied most frequently to patients hav- 
ing sores and swellings about the neck, and also to any 
continuously sore part of the skin. It is a term not used 
among physicians at present. The terms scrofula and 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 511 

tubercle are synonymous, and the latter name is most 
expressive, consequently now most used. It is wrong to 
designate enlarged glands or open sores as scrofulous, as 
many of them have no tendency that way, being due to 
other causes entirely. Any form of sore in the throat, or 
even the mouth, may be a cause of enlarging the glands of 
the neck. A blister, burn, or pimple may receive a poi- 
sonous infection and transmit it to the glands in any part 
of the body, thus enlarging them. 

In this way the glands under the arms and in the groin 
become enlarged very frequently. So frequent is this 
the case, that physicians very generally advise parents to 
expect enlargement of the glands in the course of sores 
or abrasions of the skin, when these sores have not been 
thoroughly disinfected at first and kept that way till 
perfectly healed. 

Were it not for the perfect covering of the body with 
a healthy skin, through which no infection can pass, 
these glands would be continually enlarging in their pro- 
tective warfare against the entrance of the poisonous 
infections which continually surround us. 

Fevers. 

Perhaps all other causes combined will not demand the 
attention of mothers so much or frequently among 
children as will the feverish conditions accompanying the 
disturbances and diseases peculiar to their age. While 
all the epidemic and contagious diseases are febrile and 
common to childhood, we also find many feverish erup- 
tions following the gastronomic and athletic excesses 
peculiar to this irresponsible and thoughtless age. 

In no department of nursing is thought and immediate 
action so imperatively demanded, to check the painful 



512 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

symptoms and frequent bad results which quickly follow 
these disturbances in many families. Here the life of 
the child or its future usefulness is frequently jeopard- 
ized, and the prompt action taken to reduce the febrile 
strain indicates the value of nursing skill, which should 
always be exercised at once, and before the physician 
arrives. While most diseases demonstrate to the eye the 
cause of the fever, there are many febrile affections 
whose cause is very obscure indeed. In many cases the 
cause is often obscure even to the experienced physician. 
Very commonly it can be traced to digestive derange- 
ments, but frequently, as in measles and scarlatina, the 
fever precedes the other evidences of the disease several 
days; consequently the correct cause cannot always be 
assigned in the beginning of the attack. - 

Inflammatory diseases are always accompanied by 
febrile disturbance. The danger in these cases is gen- 
erally in direct proportion to the amount of the inflamed 
part, the intensity of the inflammation, or the importance 
of the tissue inflamed. 

Cooling baths can always be applied with perfect safety 
to feverish children. This applies to the fevers preced- 
ing eruptive diseases, such as measles and scarlet fever, 
as well as to all other febrile conditions. These baths 
should commence at the temperature comfortable to the 
child, 95°, and be cooled by adding cold water while the 
child is in the bath. They may be continued for five or 
even ten minutes, and repeated every few hours if neces- 
sary to procure rest and quietness. While in the bath, the 
child must be rubbed vigorously by two people and cold 
cloths applied to the head. A dose of castor oil, mag- 
nesia, or rhubarb should also be given to empty the 
bowels and remove all irritants or undigested food at once, 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 513 

as these may perpetuate the fever. Cool drinks and a 
very reduced diet must follow till the fever subsides, or 
other treatment is found necessary. 

After the bowels are freely moved a fever mixture, 
Remedy No. 45, should be given while awake, to assist in 
reducing the high temperature. 

If there is much cough with the fever, this would indi- 
cate some bronchial trouble, or possibly the commence- 
ment of pneumonia. For these cases Remedy No. 50 is 
most appropriate, but a physician should prescribe where 
fever continues after the child has had a good sleep. 

In some families the nervous system is so sensitive and 
easily disturbed that the children have severe headache, 
trembling, or convulsions every time they have a fever. 
It makes no difference what is the exciting cause of it, 
the result is always the same. The parents of these 
children should always keep a little medicine ready, to 
give at the earliest notice of sickness, and thus prevent 
the convulsions. For this purpose Remedy No. 54 
answers a good purpose always and will keep perfectly 
for years. In fact this mixture will never spoil. 

Inanition Fever. 

This is a peculiar febrile disturbance seen in new-born 
infants and also in young children during the first two 
years. 

The cause is always absence of good nourishment. It 
shows in some infants during the two or three days pre- 
vious to the coming of the mother's milk, when the infant 
is not properly nourished by artificial means. It shows 
also in older infants who do not appropriate their nour- 
ishment, or who, through some sickness, refuse to take 
food. 

33 



514 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Also, it appears in infants who are insufficiently fed, on 
account of the mother's milk being deficient in amount, 
or poor in quality. 

In hand-fed infants raised on unnatural food, which 
contains deficient nutriment of the kind the infant can 
digest, it shows also. 

Also, it appears in infants prematurely born, or those 
with undeveloped digestive organs. 

Very commonly it occurs where food is changed sud- 
denly, as in weaning or acute sicknesses. Here indiges- 
tion usually accompanies the fever. 

The general cause tending to produce inanition 
fever, is a deficiency of the right nutriment properly 
digested and appropriated for the sustenance of the infant. 
This applies to any complication of health or sickness 
causing very reduced correct feeding. 

The treatment will be inferred from the cause. Enough 
of the correct food usually subdues the fever in a few 
hours. Where it has not continued long enough to cause 
complications, such as indigestion, little, if any medica- 
tion is required. All medicinal treatment should aim at 
relieving the stomach and bowels of their unsuitable con- 
tents and healing the irritation they produce. 

Malaria. 

This is an ever present infection in almost all parts of 
the world. It is due to a microscopic germ which is 
found in the blood, and is much more prevalent in some 
localities than in others. While many vigorous persons 
pass through life without ever feeling any effects of 
malaria, there are few persons reduced in health from any 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 515 

cause, or reduced in flesh, who do not require -treatment 
for malaria before being thoroughly convalescent. 

It produces all degrees of disturbance, from the tired, 
lazy feeling, to the most pronounced chill and subsequent 
high fever. The evidences of malarial poisoning are so 
numerous and varied, that it requires the greatest skill 
to recognize them in many cases. Where a patient is in 
doubt a physician should be asked to prescribe. People 
are so well versed in taking quinine for malaria that 
there is little necessity for a prescription here. Where 
it is desirable to avoid the bitter taste of quinine, an 
ointment (Remedy No. 84) should be used. This should 
be well rubbed into the soft skin of the body and limbs 
twice daily for one or two weeks. It will commonly give 
relief to simple malarial infection, and also act as a most 
valuable tonic. 

Malaria attacks infants as well as adults, it is no 
respecter of age; and where an infant shows an inability 
to recover fully from any sickness, or becomes thin, bad 
colored, and petulant, with a poor appetite, malarial treat- 
ment should be applied. When this fails to cause 
improvement in spirits and appetite there is Borne other 
disturbing cause present to explain the sickness. 

Often malarial treatment will require to be continued 
for a month before giving reliable results. Usually not 
enough medicine is used in these cases. When given 
internally, about one grain per day, in divided doses, must 
be given for every twelve pounds in weight of the patient. 
This treatment should be omitted every fourth day, but 
repeated on this plan till the child's appetite returns, 
the weight increases, and the usual healthy color is re- 
established. 



516 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Malnutrition. 

As the name implies, this word means an imperfectly 
nourished but otherwise healthy child, one that will 
recover under careful diet. 

Malnutrition improperly handled will always drift into 
marasmus. These cases usually show in warm weather, 
and appear mostly in children born during that year. In 
other words, infants over eight or nine months old do 
not suffer so much from malnutrition. Generally they 
are strong enough before the warm weather arrives to 
digest their food properly, and thus escape the stomach 
and bowel disturbances which usually lead to malnu- 
trition. 

As perfect nutrition always accompanies healthy and 
natural stools, parents can generally guard against malnu- 
trition by changing the quantity or quality of the food, 
if needed, till such healthy stools are produced. 

As healthy stools mean perfect nutrition, so do un- 
healthy stools mean approaching malnutrition and maras- 
mus. Where the mother cannot adjust the food so as to 
produce healthy stools she should at once seek medical 
advice. 

The mother who persists for months in nursing a 
colicky cross infant is making a serious mistake. Many 
of the most obstinate and serious cases of malnutrition, 
and even of marasmus, are caused in this way. This 
mother is a poor nurser naturally, is mentally worried, is 
sick physically, eats the wrong food or eats too much food, 
works too hard, nurses too often, nurses irregularly, loses 
her sleep, does not exercise enough, dissipates, or exposes 
herself to extremes of temperature. These are a few of 
the ways in which a mother can commit errors and have 
the results reflected in the poor development of the 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 517 

infant. The error should be sought for carefully and 
corrected promptly; but the infant should always be 
weaned before it is damaged and stunted in its growth. 
A diet that gives yellow, inodorous, well digested stools 
is a sure protection against malnutrition, if the infant 
receives enough of it. 

Marasmus. 

What is marasmus ? Only a result. Not a disease but 
a condition resulting in young infants during the first 
summer, from diarrhea, indigestion, tuberculosis, syphi- 
lis, chronic vomiting, or food unsuitable either in quan- 
tity or quality. 

This occurs mostly in hand-fed infants, but may appear 
also in any infant compelled to live on an unsuit- 
able or unhealthy mother's milk. We see it most 
commonly in infantile homes or hospitals where many 
children are raised, or rather are attempted to be raised, 
by hand, in fact, where there are not enough nurs- 
ing mothers with a good quality of milk to supply 
all the infants. In these places, also, we find too often 
the infants of the syphilitic, tubercular, and alcoholic 
parents. These are always difficult ones to raise, even 
under good circumstances. 

Again, we meet these marasmic infants in private homes 
where they are born in the spring or summer and im- 
properly fed. These infants all die of starvation, even in 
the midst of plenty. Generally they swallow two or three 
times more food than they require, but cannot appropriate 
enough to keep them alive. 

In this starving way, they become thinner and poorer 
daily, whining and moaning in their nursery, until they 



518 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

are veritable skeletons, with only the skin hanging loosely 
on their shrunken bony frames. 

These children all die if not rescued early by a suitable 
diet. Generally only human milk will save them, but 
even this will fail if not supplied early enough. 

Marasmus is the extreme condition resulting from im- 
perfect nutrition. The physician should always be called 
early where an infant shows continuous loss of weight, as 
this heralds approaching marasmus. 

Erysipelas. 

This is an inflammation of the skin and tissues under- 
neath. It is contagious in character and may be carried 
to another by contact of a sore with the poison. It is 
most usually found about the head and ears in infants, due 
to poisonous infection in some way, but it may appear about 
any small sore when infected with this poison. It is 
very dangerous in children, and the danger is in propor- 
tion to the size of the inflamed area and the youth of 
the child. 

Erysipelas is known by the shiny, bright red, swollen 
character of the skin occupied. It may last from one to 
two weeks. Where it spreads, as on the face, it requires 
the longer time to develop and then heal. 

The treatment should always be referred to a physician. 
Infants two or three weeks old suffering from erysipelas 
generally die. They should be separated from the 
mother and any one having sores, no matter how small, 
as the smallest pimple may and will receive the infection,, 
and develop the most severe forms of the disease. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 519 

Dropsy. 

This means an accumulation of water under the skin in 
any part of the body, or in any one of the cavities. 
Dropsy means that the kidneys cannot remove the water 
as rapidly as it accumulates. This may be due to disease 
of the heart or liver, backing up the blood in the vessels 
and forcing the watery parts out, to give room for the 
thicker parts. It may also be due to the kidneys being 
inflamed and unable to do their regular labor in remov- 
ing so much urine every day. The result in either case 
is an accumulation of water in the body where it does 
not belong. Feeding beef tea freely to children con- 
valescing from febrile stomach and bowel disturbances 
will often cause dropsy. 

In these cases the bowels should be kept open freely 
with some laxative, such as Eemedy No. 40, and a physi- 
cian also called in. Warm baths daily are beneficial till 
regular treatment is established. A dilute cream diet is 
the most suitable always and the only one allowable in 
disturbed kidneys. 

Dropsy shows always in the lowest parts and may be 
re cognised by its whiteness, freedom from soreness, and 
denting from pressure. After a good sleep it is usu- 
ally most noticeable under the eyes, but in the evening is 
best seen in the feet and ankles. 

Dropsy very commonly follows scarlet fever from 
slight exposure to cold. In these cases it is clue to the 
extraordinary labor thrown on the kidneys by the defec- 
tive skin. Such children should have only a dilute 
cream diet. No meat broths are allowable of any kind, 
as they always irritate weak or tender kidneys. 



520 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Retention of Urine. 

It is common for an infant not to pass urine for many- 
hours, a day, or even two days after birth, without caus- 
ing any harm or showing any thing wrong. Usually a 
laxative or warm bath will start the urine running in 
these cases. Sometimes pain in urinating will cause the 
infant to avoid it as long as possible. In colic or diarrhea, 
occasionally, the same result will follow. In the begin- 
ning of fever and in the convalescence from scarlet fever, 
there are times when little urine is passed, and this is 
smoky in character. Frequent hot bathing with free rub- 
bing while in the water, helps these cases. The bowels 
should be kept loose in feverish cases, as this assists 
materially in securing a regular flow of urine. Where 
this tendency to deficient urine is repeated or continued 
and a regular condition of the bowels exists, a few doses 
of Eemedy No. 45 will aid materially in securing a larger 
flow. Any urinary difficulty after scarlet fever requires 
the prompt attention of a physician. 

Painful Urination. 

Frequently a healthy infant evinces acute pain in 
urinating, and is perfectly well afterwards. When this 
continues to be repeated at each urination, and nothing 
is found to explain it, a careful examination of the gen- 
itals should be made to discover a cause for it. In girls, 
at times, an acute redness or soreness is present, which 
causes smarting when the urine passes over it. In boys 
the foreskin will often be long and" very narrow at the 
opening, thus retaining some of the urine for a time. 
This may decompose and set up an inflammation and 
soreness of the foreskin which causes smarting and pain 
at each urination. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 521 

Where there is no discoverable cause for the pain, the 
mother may feel the wet napkin for sandy deposits which 
often occur and cause pain in passing. These are usually 
reddish or yellowish in color, and are very irritating while 
passing. In these cases the food should be diluted and 
the infant allowed to drink freely of boiled water, slightly 
sweetened, if necessary, to induce drinking. A few drops 
of sweet nitre should also be given every two or three 
hours till better. 

The sore spots seen in girls should be well dusted with 
Remedy No. 110 after each urinating, to heal the sore 
parts quickly. 

The same powder may be used, if possible, with the 
long foreskin of boys, but usually these cases will require 
circumcision before a reliable cure is obtained. A physi- 
cian should be called to examine such cases always, when 
a cure is not quickly obtained. 

Bed Wetting. 

While this is a habit in some children, in the majority 
it is due to slow development of the nerves controlling 
the neck of the bladder. In their weak or imperfect condi- 
tion, the anesthesia of sleep robs the bladder of that ner- 
vous control which should be, and is, in the perfect body, 
always present, whether sleeping or waking. As children 
grow older this nervous control will gradually become 
strong enough and only in the few will the bed wetting 
habit remain. These cases must have assistance from 
their parents to avoid this unpleasant nightly result. 
The evening meal should be light, and little fluid should 
be taken for hours before retiring. They should be 
wakened to urinate frequently. Some apply a pillow, 
pad, spool, or any uncomfortable object fastened on the 



522 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

back between the hips, so that the child must always lie 
on the side. In this position there is less danger than 
when lying on the back. Whipping and punishment can 
do good only to the few, the balance are too often beyond 
external agencies. In every orphans' home ther e 
are a number of children, both male and female, suffering 
from this weakness. The writer has worried with these, 
both in private practice and in an orphan asylum, for 
many years, but there are always a few children who are 
beyond relief. "They have to grow out of it," as it is 
commonly expressed. Some will not succeed even then 
and suffer in this way when adult grown. Two young 
ladies come to mind, who were victims. One who had 
always to sit up all night when away from home, and the 
other who was desperate when being married because of 
this continued weakness. Surely if this habit or weak- 
ness were preventable the above cases would not exist. * 

In stubborn cases careful examination by a physician 
should be made of these cases, to find if possible some 
local irritation in the genitals or in the bowels. In the 
latter seat worms will at times cause this weakness. 
Other worms also cause it. In such a few worm powders, 
Remedy No. 55, should be given, and the child well fed 
up afterwards on a drier diet, giving little water at even- 
ing meal and none afterwards. In boys with a long 
narrow or tender foreskin, circumcision should be per- 
formed. In girls careful examination of the urethra and 
vagina may show an unhealthy redness and some dis- 
charge. In such cases careful bathing twice daily with 
Remedy No. 94, and then leaving a small pad of absorb- 
ent cotton saturated with the medicine in the folds of 
the vulva will often relieve irritation there and give 
relief. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 523 

When nothing tangible is found to indicate the treat- 
ment suitable,. Remedy No. 58 may be given each even- 
ing to break up the habit and teach the bladder to 
enlarge more and carry the urine longer. If necessary 
the medicine may be repeated every hour in the evening 
till it produces a redness of the skin, when smaller doses 
fail. 

Often the children are benefited by spraying the spine 
with cold water at bed time for about two minutes. This 
may be done with a pitcher or hose as may be most conven- 
ient, and water from 40° to 50° F. used. Too much care 
and attention cannot be given these unfortunate little 
ones, to help them overcome this weakness. 

Imperforate Bowel. 

Occasionally an infant is born without an anus or with 
the bowel closed inside the anus. Such a child will be 
in misery and pain till the defect is discovered and an 
anus made, or the constriction in the bowel enlarged. 
These are very serious cases, difficult to handle, and only 
relieved by an operation. Many of them die from the 
pain and consequent strain. Treatment is often very 
unsatisfactory, due to the strong disposition the bowel 
shows to close entirely. 

Prolapse of the Bowel. 

This means that the bowel is projected out at stool 
from the severe straining 'of constipation, or from that 
straining always present in dysentery. In either case the 
bowel is pressed out till it projects beyond the anus. At 
first it returns again after the straining stops, but soon it 
becomes so stretched and loosened that it loses the 
power to return, and a portion remains out permanently. 



524 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

The treatment needed here is to prevent the infant 
from the necessity of straining at stool by making the 
constipated infant have soft, easy stools. This must be 
accomplished by more fat, fruits, or meat in the food, and 
insisting on such food as will give one regular daily 
stool. In the infant suffering from dysentery, it is neces- 
sary that the dysentery be checked at once and the 
child dieted so as to secure one soft stool daily. 

Locally, the bowel should be oiled and pressed gently 
back until entirely returned after each stool and the 
child prevented from again straining by pressing the but- 
tocks together, or holding a soft cloth against the anus 
till all straining ceases. At stool the child must be made 
to arise promptly as soon as it is relieved, and not 
allowed to sit there straining, which soon becomes a habit 
and perpetuates the prolapse. In bad cases it is often 
necessary to have the child relieve the bowels while 
lying down. This position greatly reduces the desire to 
strain and thus force out the bowel. 

No medicines applied to the bowel are of any benefit 
in this trouble, but on the contrary, irritate and damage 
the lining, thus increasing the desire to strain. 

Correct dietary, such as causes one soft stool daily, and 
regular attention at the time of stool will always give a 
cure if adopted early enough. 

In cases where there is frequent desire to stool and 
great straining afterward, thus causing frequent pro- 
lapse, and in cases where the bowel is tender and painful, 
the mother should roll a lump of ice the size of a walnut 
or less in a little iodoform gauze, and place it in the 
prolapsed bowel before returning it. The ice in these 
cases slowly dissolves, soothes and cools the bowel, 
thus reducing the swelling of it and removing the desire 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 525 

for stool and straining. No harm can come from fre- 
quent repetition of the ice, but on the contrary, a cure 
will be established quickly in recent attacks, by such 
regular treatment. 

Ulceration of the Navel. 

This is indicated by a continued moist state requiring 
cloths folded under the bandage to avoid soiling. 
A careful examination or opening of the navel will show 
a red, raw, moist surface. This, if not properly treated, 
will grow and gradually rise out of the navel like a pea 
or bean. When this happens, the family physician 
should be called, as it requires removal with a scissors. 
This operation is not painful to the infant, and is rapidly 
followed by healing. 

Where there is no swelling, the moisture and rawness 
can be readily checked by filling the navel twice daily 
with Remedy No. 108. This powder checks all odor and 
heals rapidly. 

Bleeding from the Navel. 

The navel cord in some infants is very fleshy and hard, 
so that the string tying it does not always compress the 
blood-vessels sufficiently. This allows a gentle oozing 
and soiling of the clothes. Where this shows, a strong 
cord should be drawn tightly around the navel above the 
first string and tied firmly, care being always observed to 
secure a perfect stopping of the flow of blood before again 
dressing the infant. This bleeding is always easily 
stopped. 

Sometimes on the third or fourth day after birth, the 
navel cord bleeds at the point of separation from the 
body. Here pressure with the fingers should be main- 



526 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

tained till the physician comes and dresses it. Care 
should be observed that the ringers are perfectly clean 
or some disinfecting powder, such as Remedy No. 109, be 
applied freely under the fingers, as this point is very sus- 
ceptible to infection and very dangerous when infected. 
Very often erysipelas enters at this point in the young 
infant. 

Inflammation of the Breasts. 

This affection occurs commonly in babies a week or 
two old. It shows as a hard swelling with little color at 
first. Old nurses think these swellings are caused by the 
breasts containing milk, and forthwith proceed to squeeze 
out what does not exist — another piece of barbarism. Can 
it be wondered that pus forms there after this cruelty ? 
The swelling should be reduced by mild rubbing with 
warm carbolized oil every day, being careful not to rub 
hard enough to hurt the infant. The nurse should give 
plenty of time to this work, as on the perfectness of the 
massage depends the cure. After the rubbing, absorbent 
cotton with carbolized oil should be freely applied, and 
all covered with a thick layer of this cotton to secure 
continual softness and heat. As soon as the breasts 
become swollen, red and soft, they should be opened to 
discharge the pus and give the little one relief. 

Jaundice. 

Every infant is expected to have a yellow skin and 
dark staining urine some time during the first ten days of 
its life. This is apparently not a diseased condition, and 
conforms to a natural physiological act, as all these cases 
recover their correct color in a few days. It does not 
sicken the infant in any way, as these children nurse and 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 527 

sleep as well during that time as they do after it passes 
away. No treatment is needed more than plenty of good 
nourishing milk and heat to keep the infant comfortable. 
This is only a skin coloring, not a true jaundice, as in the 
latter the eyes are yellow first. 

There is a genuine jaundice in older infants and 
children, in which there is decided yellowness of the eye 
and skin, with very dark brown urine which colors all 
clothes. In this form of jaundice there is some fever and 
loss of appetite, with heaviness, and indifference to sur- 
roundings. In these cases the bowels should be kept 
open two to four times daily with Remedy No. 40, and 
the diet should be an entirely milk one. These attacks 
usually follow overeating, and consequently only a limited 
diet is allowable. A physician should be called in. Such 
cases are not dangerous, and generally last about a week. 

Scurvy; Scorbutus. 

In infancy this is the disease of the wealthy; in adult 
life it is the disease of the mariners or far north ex- 
plorers — those robbed of a fresh meat, vegetable, or 
fruit diet. 

Just as the adult, when robbed of fresh meats and 
fruits, shows the sore gums, loose teeth, bleeding mucous 
membranes, tender limbs, and general weakness with 
fever, so does the little infant suffer also, when kept on an 
entirely cooked diet, such as sterilized or condensed 
milk, with patent foods of all kinds. The gums become 
spongy and sore, the mouth, nose, and ears bleed, the 
skin becomes dark, the joints tender, and the limbs so 
painful and swollen that even bathing is at times impossi- 
ble. Dark patches like bruises show under the skin on 
different parts of the body. 



528 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

For all this medicines are not of much value, and the case 
looks hopeless as each prescription fails to give the much 
needed rest, and the much needed better nutrition with 
natural stools. The foul, loose stools continue, with un- 
abated thirst; and the continuous cry or whine seems to 
have no end. But change the food from the everlasting 
cooked variety, give the infant natural milk just as Nature 
presents it, beef juice, not beef tea; orange juice, or any 
other fresh sweet fruit juice, in fact, natural foods with 
all the natural principles retained, none being dissi- 
pated or changed by heat, and the infant veritably 
bounds into good health again, so rapid is the conva- 
lescence. 

The infant in an almost hopeless condition this week, 
is the convalescent of next week, and the roaring, royster- 
ing boy of the following. The lesson that the wealthy 
mother with a perfect nurse must here learn, is to always 
give the infant natural food (raw milk) when hot weather 
does not demand sterilized, and as the child grows older, 
add some variety to the diet, as long as the stools show 
the child can digest it. This is Nature's law, and the 
only one that is a true guide in feeding infants. 

Rickets. 

Kickets! Who would have a rickety child? What 
mother wants a weak-boned baby? Just think of it! 
Crooked legs, bowlegs (Figure 56), knock-knees, 
humpbacked, big head, hammer-head, projecting fore- 
head, late teeth, poor teeth, coarse joints, pendulous 
abdomen (Figure 57), pigeon breast, short limbs, drawfs, 
bad complexion — all these and many other unpleasant 
features belong, one or more of them, to the rickety child 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 



529 



of either sex. To the female child may also be added 
soft hip bones, causing deformity and consequent ina- 
bility in after years to bring forth her infant child in the 
natural way, thus necessitating the surgeon's knife to 
save the life of both. 

What a prospect! Could anything be more unpleas- 
ant for the little one? And all this because the mother 



..!;: 



*i«f 




Figure 56. Rickety bowlegs. 

innocently feeds the wrong diet to her infant; because 
the mother foolishly selects her infant's diet from the 
newspaper advertisements or the advice of friends; 
because the mother does not know what is a correct diet; 
because the mother does not realize that she must always 
feed her infant such food as will give, during the first 



530 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

year, yellow, inodorous, mustard paste stools, and dur- 
ing the second year, stools of the same character, but 
darker in color. 

When mothers realize this fully and act accordingly, 
rickets will become a matter of history only. This can 
only occur when mothers cease giving foods of which they 
do not know the composition themselves. In other 
words, rickets will continue to curse humanity as long 
as mothers fail to give the little innocent babe a plain 
diet, every item of which she thoroughly understands, 
the same as she understands the diet of all the older 
members of her household. Does she feed them every 
day on mixtures and slops of which she knows nothing ? 
How long would they take it? Must the child be big 
enough to defend itself before it can escape this ruinous 
diet? It almost seems as if it would require to be in 
some households. 

Let mothers look carefully to the infant's stools, and 
take alarm as soon as they become foul, bad colored, 
pasty, or of variable consistence. They should not be 
swayed by the opinion or advice of friends, who think 
these features of no importance, simply because their 
crooked-legged, big-headed, pigeon-breasted children 
lived in spite of such stools. 

The wrong food in time saps the stiffening or lime 
properties from the bones, and the weight of the child 
bends them. In these crooked positions, many of them 
remain for life, as the shape of many citizens prove. 

Mothers should also look carefully to the character of 
the urine. As soon as it becomes smoky, strong odored, 
irritating to the skin and staining the clothes, they should 
remember that this is due to the unsuitable food, and 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 531 

should reduce the amount or change the food till natural, 
clear, straw colors are obtained. 

This unnatural urine is steadily straining the kidneys, 




Figure 57. A case of Rickets. The large abdomen and crooked legs are 
caused by a soft, sugary diet, such as condensed milk or too much fruits. 

and will in time cause inflammation of them and Bright 's 
disease if not corrected. 

Where a child shows any sign of rickets, some iron 



532 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

tonic, such as Remedy No. 60, should also be given reg- 
ularly with the perfect diet, but a physician should be 
consulted at once. 

Rickets is a disease from which children with good 
treatment generally recover in health, though deformed. 
It is amazing also how the limbs will straighten up and 
the bones become strong, when the deformity is not too 
great, if the child is properly fed and treated. 

Rickets is common among the rich as well as the poor. 
The too rigid patent, lazy diet of the former is just as 
bad as the too meager and unwholesome diet of the 
latter. 

Leucorrhea. 

This discharge may occur with very small girls, and 
cause great annoyance and itching. The general under- 
standing of it when present is that a low condition of 
health exists. 

At times leucorrhea is due to injuries, as falling astride 
a fence or other object. Occasionally it comes from the 
presence of thread worms, which find their way into the 
passage and" set up an irritation there. Occasionally 
children may place pencils, buttons, etc., there themselves. 
The presence of a continual discharge with soreness 
around the passage should make a mother suspicious of 
such, especially when the discharge does not subside with 
careful treatment. 

Strengthening medicines, such as Remedy No. GO, 
should always be given with good nourishing diet and 
plenty of sunlight and fresh air. A disinfecting douche, 
Remedy No. 94, should be used twice daily, and a small 
compress of absorbent cotton soaked in the lotion 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 533 

should be laid between the irritated parts after douch- 
ing. Where these remedies do not succeed, a physician 
should be called. 

Circumcision. 

The attention of parents is being more turned to this 
subject every year. Perhaps the pendulum is swinging 
too far in that direction with some parents. The thought- 
ful physician is trying to find the happy medium, or a 
reason by which to guide his thoughts on this subject; 
therefore, he advises circumcision when he finds the child 
continually urinating in daytime and wetting the bed at 
night. When with this the boy is irritable and easily 
disturbed, crying without apparent reason and waking 
frequently at night, he still more strongly advises it. 

Especially does he advise it when the foreskin looks 
red and tender, and refuses to be returned over the 
glans, or shows that there are adhesions there. 

Such cases as this require circumcision and it should 
be done at once, as delay is continually hurting the 
child's temper, and establishing a nervous, irritable habit 
which effectually interferes with the boy's development. 

Parents realize the great advantage this operation has 
been, when the child's sleep becomes quiet and continu- 
ous, and the waking hours are joyous and happy. 

The necessity for this operation commonly presents 
itself during the first month of life or any time after- 
ward. 

As a sanitary measure in unduly long foreskins, many 
advocate the operation. Truly it is desirable to be free 
from the annoyance and constant attention and washing 
which some have to follow all their lives to keep them- 
selves clean, not to speak of the dangers from infection 



534 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

also. The male with a moderately short foreskin is in a 
continual condition of cleanness and comfort, and with 
moderate care is free from contagion also. 

Sucking the Finger. 

Many children learn this habit and continue it till 
three or four years old. Many nurses teach a cross baby 
to suck a rubber or sugar nipple to keep it quiet. This 
is a bad practice and should be avoided, as when once 
established it is followed incessantly, and the habit is 
with difficulty stopped. 

Continual use of any substance in the mouth tends to 
stimulate gastric secretion unduly. It also, in many 
children, forces the soft bones of the jaws out of their 
correct shape, causing the front teeth to project outward 
till in some the lips will not cover them. 

This habit largely accounts for the badly shaped 
mouth and projecting upper teeth which we commonly 
see in people on the streets. It can be corrected in many 
by fastening thumbless mittens over the hands, and mak- 
ing the sleeves of the night shirts closed at the ends and 
extra long. By this means it becomes impossible to get 
the thumb or finger into the mouth. 

Some mothers try to stop it by coating the fingers 
with bitter substances, such as aloes, quassia, or qui- 
nine. This is always a failure, as the taste of the child 
is not acute like that of the adult. 

Nervous Habits. 

All kinds of peculiar tricks are developed by nervous 
children. Among these are sucking the fingers, biting 
the nails, pulling the ear, pulling the hair, pulling the 
mother's hair when nursing, and repeating many acts 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 535 

done by other children, such as stuttering and stammer- 
ing. What can be done to avoid or stop them is often 
asked of the physician. Certainly many of these habits 
are serious when learned by children old enough to go to 
school, for there is likelihood of their becoming perma- 
nent. This particularly applies to stuttering or stam- 
mering, which may, in the majority of cases, be controlled 
by the firm, watchful eye of the mother always checking 
the act, and insisting on a slow, perfect repetition of 
words till they become easy. This must invariably be done 
when the very first evidences of difficulty in speaking 
show themselves. When the habit is established it can- 
not be checked by voluntary effort, and any attention by 
others only embarrasses the child and increases the diffi- 
culty. 

The nervous habits or tricks learned by babies, usually 
disappear in time, due either to the vigilance of the 
mother, or increasing age changing the child's habits 
and desires. 

Of all these nervous habits, perhaps biting the finger- 
nails is the most unpleasant and obstinate. It is an 
unconscious act when well established, and may, or will 
be repeated during all waking hours, when the hands and 
mouth are not otherwise occupied. Some will do it even 
in their sleep. This habit is often perpetuated into adult 
life, and I have seen it even in old age accompany the 
thoughtful mood. There is no cure for this but fixing 
the fingers so they cannot enter the mouth, as the act 
soon becomes an unconscious one beyond the mental 
control of the child. Dipping the fingers in some bitter 
or capsicon mixture will remind the owner and help to 
break up the habit. So persistent do some children 
become in doing this, that they keep the nails eaten down 
till the finger ends are all sore. 



536 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Holding the Breath. . 

This is a habit with nervous children and those not well 
controlled by the parents. It generally accompanies a 
fit of crying or anger, and at first seems voluntary, but 
in time becomes habitual. Where it is very frequent 
and severe it indicates a rickety condition of the body, 
and may become severe enough to cause convulsions. 

In these attacks the child usually cries loudly with 
temper, throws itself down, and the face becomes swollen 
and dark from holding the breath. Some children 
struggle violently, while others apparently become nearly 
unconscious. These latter conditions are due to spasm 
of the glottis or windpipe, which soon relaxes and allows 
the air to enter the lungs again. With returning breath 
the face clears up and the attack passes off. 

These seizures never occur in some families, as the 
mother by vigorous slapping soon dispels all efforts in 
this direction, and the child quickly learns that holding 
the breath brings prompt punishment. In these at- 
tacks, a quick dash with cold water or slapping with a 
wet towel will soon dispel all evidences of it. 

Holding the breath in delicate children may be un- 
avoidable with some. It only comes occasionally, and 
where persistent, these pale children require a tonic and 
strengthening treatment to correct their tendency to 
become rickety. This rickety tendency so weakens the 
nervous system, that those suffering from it are liable to 
all forms of nervous troubles, even to convulsions when 
disturbed by mental excitement or sickness. Such cases 
should receive prompt medical advice. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 537 

Masturbation; Self- Abuse. 

Parents cannot be too careful in watching young 
children, and the company they have, to prevent them 
from learning this habit, common to both sexes. While 
usually it is the older children who are addicted to this, 
yet I have seen it in nursing female infants, who have 
unconsciously learned it from sitting on the edge of a 
chair and rocking themselves there. Once learned, that 
position causes a repetition. Circumcision in the male, 
when closely done, checks or prevents this habit. 

Sometimes worms in the bowel, a narrow foreskin, in- 
flamed or irritated vagina, and other local irritations 
about the genitals will establish this habit by irritation. 
Careful examination should always be made for these 
causes. In older children appeal must be made to judg- 
ment, sense, and future success physically in order to 
check this baneful and ruinous habit. 

Boils, Furuncles. 

A boil is an inflammation of a spot in or under the 
skin, and the formation of pus as a result of this inflam- 
mation. It appears as a dark red swelling raised above 
the surface, and is very painful and tender. Usually 
boils are caused by the stoppage of some glands or 
follicles, and when the pus is discharged they are at 
once relieved. Boils poulticed in the old-fashioned way 
are usually followed by a crop of boils, smaller than the 
original one. This is due to infection of the skin under 
the poultice by the pus lying on it so much; or by the 
poultice souring there, and macerating the skin, making 
the glands susceptible to infection from the pus. 

Several other swellings looking like boils commonly 
appear, and are called by many " blind boils" because 



538 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

they do not point distinctly and discharge. They are 
flat and soft on the surface, slow in progress, and not 
as tender as boil*. They should be open when of any 
size. Many hard, red swellings appear, looking like boils, 
remain a few days and then recede again. Many smaller 
pustular swellings appear, acting like small boils. They 
are not so deep in the skin, and consequently not so long 
in duration or so painful. They form pus early, dis- 
charge easily, and soon disappear. Seldom can these 
different kinds of boils be checked. 

The causes are often difficult to ascertain. Some are 
due to bad surroundings; others to an impoverished con- 
dition of the blood, and yet others to no ascertainable 
cause except it be infection, as they appear in healthy 
children. Efforts are made to check them by applying 
chloroform, turpentine, ichthyol, and different forms of 
ointments. These are seldom successful. When very 
tender they maybe dressed with an antiseptic lotion (Eem- 
edy No. 96) on absorbent cotton squares. These suc- 
cessfully take the place of the old-fashioned poultices, 
are much lighter and cleaner, and disinfect instead of 
infecting the skin. These dressings are not followed by 
a crop of fresh boils. 

Weak, delicate children require a general tonic treat- 
ment to prevent a succession of boils. A physician 
should be called to outline and direct this medication. 

Abscess. 

This is a large accumulation of pus under the skin. It 
generally follows some injury, infection or bruise, is often 
very painful, and may reach a large size if not early 
evacuated. Commonly an infected gland will degenerate 
into pus and form an abscess. These should always have 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 539 

the attention of a physician-, and be evacuated early so as 
to avoid scars and deformities. When left too long 
before evacuating, the skin over an abscess becomes so 
thin it loses its vitality and ulcerates, leaving a nasty 
hole, hard to heal, and also a large scar. Antiseptic 
lotions (Remedy No. 96) and dressings must always be 
applied after opening an abscess to secure rapid healing. 
Strengthening treatment is commonly needed to hasten 
the healing process when the child is not in prime con- 
dition. 

Earache; Running Ears. 

Earache is very common in childhood. It frequently 
comes as an extension of a coryza from the nose to the 
middle ear. Of course, the ache is only an evidence of 
the inflammation in the ear. Suddenly the child cries 
violently and continues persistently to make loud lament. 
When very young it is restless, moving continually, and 
refusing to be comforted by the soothing embraces of the 
mother. In fact, it cannot be comforted save for a few 
moments at a time, to again renew its cries and uneasi- 
ness, without securing system in its movements. 

The non-consolable infant should at once be suspected 
of earache, and tried with hot applications to the ear to 
find if they give relief. When the pain cannot be con- 
trolled by heat externally, small doses of laudanum 
or paregoric should be given internally, and repeated 
often enough to control the pain. Laudanum on cotton 
should be placed in the ear also. Earache usually term- 
inates in a discharge, which generally stops after a week 
or two. When it does not, each morning a healing 
lotion may be poured in the ear, such as Remedy No. 91, 
and emptied out after fifteen minutes. This relieves the 
foul odor and gradually checks the discharge, which 



540 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

should always be washed away with a soft rubber ear syr- 
inge (Figure 3) before the lotion is used. 

Where this treatment does not relieve the pain, a 
physician should be notified. Some of these cases show 
a great obstinacy, the pain returning without any appar- 
ent reason, and the discharge continuing indefinitely. In 
such cases a diseased condition of the bones of the ear is 
often present. This is always very unfortunate, as this 
dead bone may demand an operation for its removal. If 
not removed, the discharge and pain are liable to return 
at intervals for years, and occasionally a diseased ear 
affects the brain and causes death. 

Where an ear has once been diseased, the greatest care 
should always be exercised in protecting it from expos- 
ure. This is particularly needed in cold, damp weather. 
Such a child, when too young to run, should be taken out 
only in a covered baby carriage. This carriage should 
not expose the child's face to the wind, at any time. By 
avoiding windy, cold, damp weather, the danger of fresh 
irritation is very much lessened. 

The throat and ears should always be warmly covered 
when out for an airing. Even in older children the ear 
requires careful protection after it has once shown a weak- 
ness or earache. Very commonly deafness follows these 
attacks. 

Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids. 

This is a very common condition in childhood. Infants 
have variable sized tonsils, some large, oome small. As 
long as their size does not interfere with breathing 
through the nose while sleeping, or cause snoring, there 
seems little reason for reducing them by an operation. 
They cannot be reduced in size by medicine, except in 
those recently enlarged by disease. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 541 

The type of enlargement which demands attention is 
that resulting from nasal catarrh, where the child is con- 
tinually renewing its cold in the head. Here the dis- 
charge from the nose runs down into the throat, irritat- 
ing and enlarging the lining of the posterior nose, thus 
causing adenoids; and also irritating and continually 
poisoning the tonsils, thus enlarging them. This 
diseased or catarrhal condition in the posterior nose often 
encroaches on the tubes leading to the middle ear and 
causes deafness. 

Post-nasal catarrh, adenoids and enlarged tonsils 
demand immediate attention, as they effectually retard the 
intelligence, growth, health, and hearing of the child. 
While this condition of catarrh soon causes deafness, it 
also widens the nose, causes mouth breathing all the 
time, checks mental development, gives the child a 
stupid appearance, and effectually undermines its health 
and growth. Such children are pale and anemic, cannot 
compete with others of their age, mentally or physically, 
and have repeated sicknesses. They should have the 
immediate attention of a physician, and the adenoids and 
enlarged tonsils be removed. It is amazing to see the 
rapidity with which color comes to the cheek, brightness 
to the eye, strength to the limb, and weight to the body 
when this operation is done successfully and the blood is 
relieved of the continually poisoned and wasted condition 
caused by this catarrhal irritation of the nose and throat. 

Medicinally, a great deal can be done for the mild cases, 
and even the severe ones, by spraying or douching the 
nose and throat every day once or twice with a weak salt- 
and-water mixture (see Remedy No. 95^). 

This is not painful, and if industriously followed w T ill 
greatly relieve the worst cases, and cure the mild ones. 



542 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Children soon learn to use the salt water without any 
suffering. Such children should be kept in good general 
health with good appetites to obtain a cure. 

They should regularly receive cod-liver oil or syrup of 
the iodide of iron (Remedy No. 60) for four weeks every 
three months. Even this amount will require to be in- 
creased in the very pale and delicate, until such time as 
the nose and throat are permanently relieved of all en- 
largement and obstruction. 

Rupture. 

Many children are born with a weak spot in the lower 
part of the abdomen on either side of the pubic bone. 
With the strain of crying or stool, they can at these 
points force a portion of the intestine out through the 
walls and thus cause a rupture. This shows there as a 
soft, puffy swelling, only while crying or straining; at 
first always disappearing while the infant sleeps. It soon 
becomes larger and remains down longer, till finally in 
bad cases it will remain down all the time. 

Such a child must wear a truss all the time to prevent 
the intestine from coming down and causing pain. It 
is very difficult, indeed, to adjust a bearable truss on an 
infant who wears diapers, as it chafes the skin when it is 
wet. Several trusses must be kept on hand, so that one 
is always ready to replace the soiled one. It is always 
very doubtful whether a cure can be obtained in this way 
in children so young, as one omission or mistake may let 
the rupture down after months of industry in holding it 
up. The child can never be allowed to rise without his 
truss, and can only have it removed after retiring for the 
night. An intelligent and careful mother must always 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 543 

see to its proper application, and supply new trusses as 
the old ones become weak. 

When the truss fails to make a cure, the only course 
open is an operation for its removal. Fortunately, this 
can be successfully done on children and this continual 
annoyance removed. There is very little danger in this 
treatment on young children, and generally good success 
follows it. 

Navel rupture is also a very common condition in 
young infants. It is due to the opening in the abdominal 
wall not closing perfectly after the navel cord has 
separated. A compress should be worn under, or more 




Figure 58. Pad for a weak navel or rupture. 

properly, stitched under the abdominal bandage and kept 
constantly applied. This compress should be as large as 
the palm of the hand, and thick and round surfaced enough 
to hold the rupture entirely in the abdomen. The 
bandage should be of flannel, and always wide enough 
in these cases to carry three pins in fastening it on. 
Such a bandage and pad (Figure 58) when properly 
applied will not slip out of position. 

The lower surface of the pad should be rounded like a 
section cut from the side of an apple, and the flat side 
sewed to the pad. This shape always exercises the 
proper pressure on the navel opening till it closes en- 
tirely. 



544 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Coryza; Cold in the Head. 

Coryza, or cold in the head, is very common among in- 
fants. By this we do not mean the moist condition 
always present in some infants and commonly called 
Snuffles. Some are born with this. 

Coryza is an acute irritation of the lining of the nose 
and often of the eyes also. It lasts a few days with fre- 
quent sneezing, and may be followed by a cough, due to 
the inflammation extending down into the throat and 
bronchial tubes. 

Locally, the nose, face, and throat should be greased 
with sweet oil, lard, or camphorated oil twice daily, and a 
little pink powder (Remedy No. 48) be given internally 
three to six times daily. Where there is much fever and 
distress, fever mixture (Remedy No. 46) may be given 
also with the pink powder. These attacks usually pass 
off entirely in a week, but give great annoyance while 
nursing from the closed condition of the nose preventing 
breathing. Such children have to often stop nursing in 
order to breathe. 

Night Terrors. 

Very active children frequently are disturbed in their 
sleep, crying out, starting up suddenly, screaming with 
terror, talking, or getting out of bed. These acts usually 
follow a very active day, or an exciting evening accom- 
panied by a generous diet; or an excess of food, fruit 
particularly. Such children are usually healthy and 
need little medicine, unless it be a dose of castor oil to 
relieve the overloaded digestive track. They know noth- 
ing next day of their night disturbance, all being done in 
their 6leep. 

Children subject to this disturbance should have less 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 545 

excitement, particularly in trie evening, and always take a 
light supper. They gradually grow out of this tendency. 
It is generally considered that the terror starts in lurid 
and exciting dreams, caused by the unhealthy products 
of indigestion circulating in the blood through the brain. 

Sleeplessness. 

This is very common in infants during the first denti- 
tion. It is more common in hand-fed than in nursed 
babies. A perfectly nursed baby is seldom disturbed in 
its sleep, hence we come to realize that a sleepless baby 
is one whose digestive organs are disturbed either by the 
quality or the quantity of its food. 

An infant sleeping with its mother often learns to 
nurse frequently from mere contiguity to the breast. 
Here it is generally the quantity that causes the sleep- 
lessness; but there are cases where it nurses often, because 
the supply of milk is failing and the infant is hungry. 
It cannot get enough to last a sufficient time in the stom- 
ach, and it then tries for more. Such an infant grasps 
and releases the nipple frequently., and bites it, or cries 
with vexation. No child is so wakeful as the hungry 
one, except the one with an earache, or the rickety one, 
whose bones are soft and sore from unsuitable dietary. 

Hand-fed infants too often have night disturbance 
from both the quality and amount of the food. The diges- 
tive organs are laboring with their unsuitable load, and 
the nerve centers are irritated with the unhealthy prod- 
ucts of digestion flowing in the blood current. The 
result is always disturbed sleep. The innocent parent 
thinks of the universal solace — food, and forthwith plies 
the bottle again. Small wonder is it that the child sleeps no 
better, till exhaustion and gormandizing stupidity become 

35 



546 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

pre-eminent, holding the infant unhealthily dormant for 
a few hours. At last it obtains a form of sleep which 
gives the stomach a much needed rest. This prepares 
the child for a renewal of this senseless stuffing, which 
characterizes its waking hours and prepares it again in 
the coming night for a return of the disturbances inci- 
dent to its sleeping hours. A continuance of this round 
of dietetic errors finally establishes the wakeful habit 
like that in the morphine devotee, and even when all 
errors are corrected, and the child is thriving, both men- 
tally and physically, we are astonished to find that 
the sleepless habit often continues for months longer. 

What can be done for sleeplessness ? Where the habit 
is new, a correction of the errors causing it will be 
promptly followed by improved sleep. Where the errors 
are old enough to establish the sleepless habit, there has 
been such a change in the nerve centers that only time, 
probably many months, correct dietary, open air exer- 
cise, change to the country, and improved general health 
will finally secure calm and undisturbed sleep. Sleeping 
medicines will not improve these cases, but on the con- 
trary, damage them. Many of these wakeful children are 
happy and playful in the night, sleeping only half-hour 
snatches, and then requiring renewed entertainment, 
even during most of their sleeping hours. They repeat 
the same proceeding in the daytime, and I have had them, 
when but two years old, require all the endurance and 
attention of three nurses in regular relays to take care of 
and amuse their exacting selves, while they thrived and 
grew fat. 

These children are always rickety. How they manage 
to thrive with this limited and erratic sleep is often a 
mystery to physicians. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 547 

They should always receive careful medical inspection 
to guarantee freedom from errors in development, and 
proper nutrition. . 

Headache. 

The infant cannot tell you that it has a headache, and 
yet in its own language it says so very plainly. The hot 
baby, restless and wakeful, says by its corrugated brow, 
rolling head, avoidance of light, moaning, and general 
heavy appearance, that its head aches. Bathe the head 
gently and freely with cool water, and soon the little one, 
by its quietness and calm submission, tells you to con- 
tinue bathing, as that relieves the aching there. Not 
long until sweet sleep rewards your efforts, then who will 
deny that the baby had a headache. 

Many of these cases are not recognized, and the fever 
and pain pass on to brain trouble. As in the adult, so 
in the infant, many causes contribute to the production 
of headache. Among these are fever, cold, hot sun, indi- 
gestion, constipation, weakness, fatigue, eye strain, and 
diseases of heart or kidneys. According to the cause, so 
must be the treatment. A little thought, showing where 
the healthy daily routine has been violated, will generally 
suggest the first treatment. Always lessen the food, 
where there is any fever in these cases, until the child 
shows by its sleep and naturalness that it is relieved of 
pain. 

The bowels should be moved by a cathartic in the 
beginning of the treatment. Remedy No. 40 is a suita- 
ble medicine, as it is not rejected by the stomach, has no 
taste, and disinfects the bowels. It should be continued 
till the bowels are freely moved. 

Where a child does not show prompt improvement 
after the above treatment, a physician should at once be 



548 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

consulted, as the great variety of sicknesses, which com- 
mence this way, often renders delay dangerous. 

Croup. 

This is the most dreaded of infantile diseases in many 
households, and not without good cause. It claims its 
victims from the infant recently weaned to the youth 
nearing maturity. 

Generally, great confusion in the family and painful 
apprehension accompany the first evidences of croup in 
any child. This is properly so. Until the parents realize 
the amount of danger which croup carries for a particular 
child, the same anxiety remains present. Even until the 
physician has the proper estimate of the croupy nature of 
an infant, he feels considerable alarm. Croup shows' itself 
in three forms. 

Catarrhal - Croup. 

This is a disease common in some families, or rather 
some children in a family; rare in other families, and 
never seen in many families. Some children have croup 
as their form of taking cold; others have the same cold 
and show it by hoarseness and cough of the ordinary 
sound, such as is always present in a cold or bronchitis. 

Croup is properly a bronchitis, or an inflammation of 
the upper end of the windpipe, or large tube carrying 
air into the lungs. The swelling or inflammation of the 
membrane lining this tube narrows the space, and cough- 
ing through this narrow space makes the dry, brassy 
sound called croup. As soon as any secretion from the 
swollen narrowed opening appears, the croupy sound 
in coughing becomes soft, gradually losing its charac- 
teristic harshness, and we realize at once that the infant 
is improving, for the cough now resembles that of an 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 549 

ordinary cold. Such is the course of an ordinary ca- 
tarrhal croup, and will probably be repeated every time 
this child takes a fresh cold. There is little or no dan- 
ger in these attacks. They are easily treated by keeping 
the infant in a warm atmosphere and applying cold cloths 
to the front of the throat till feverish symptoms subside. 
Some syrup of ipecac, small doses of dover's powder, or 
Eemedy No. 49 may be given internally to help allay 
the cough. These attacks usually subside on the third or 
fourth day. 

Spasmodic Croup. 

This is the form that gives the most decided shock to 
parents not accustomed to it. Usually the child goes to 
bed perfectly well, or has a slight cold, and wakes an hour 
or two later coughing and gasping for breath, due to a 
spasm in the windpipe. So great is the distress that the 
inexperienced think the child is suffocating and in great 
danger of dying. Before the doctor arrives the distress 
is relieved and, the child convalescent. There is generally 
a bright fever present. Vomiting relaxes the spasm in 
the tube which causes the suffocation, and at the same 
time commonly unloads that irritating food from the 
stomach which is often the cause of the attack. This 
child is always running around comparatively well the 
next day. The vomiting has cured him. In these cases 
an emetic, such as Remedy No. 47, should be given at 
once. This with the cold cloths applied very freely to 
the throat gives prompt relief. 

False Membrane Croup. 

This is the form of croup which has given the public 
that great horror of this disease, and which always causes 
alarm when it seizes a child. Nor is their alarm without 



550 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

just cause in this particular case. The inflammation here 
is of a specific kind, and causes the formation of a false 
membrane which lines the larynx and adheres closely to 
it. Coughing through this tube of false membrane gives 
the dry, brassy, croupy sound. The danger here is that 
the membrane will grow so thick as to close the air tube 
and thus suffocate the child; or that the membrane will ex- 
tend down into the lungs and thus destroy the child's life. 

So great is the similarity between this form of croup 
and diphtheria that most experienced physicians regard 
them as identical. Certain is it that they are alike dan- 
gerous to life, and demand the same treatment. Until 
the discovery of antitoxine, ninety per cent, of these cases 
died. Now, with the early and liberal use of this harm- 
less remedy, we 'expect to save ninety per cent, of those 
afflicted with this highly dangerous disease. 

False membrane croup may be known from the other 
forms by its commencing lightly and gradually growing 
worse. The cough becomes more croupy and frequent; 
and the difficulty and noise in breathing becomes corres- 
pondingly louder and more distressing. • 

False membrane croup must always be treated by the 
physician, and parents must remember that the earlier he 
is called, the better will be the prospect of recovery. 
Every day's delay in commencing treatment doubles the 
mortality following any treatment commenced on the 
previous day. Antitoxine, intubation, and tracheotomy 
are absolute necessities in the treatment of these cases, 
but are useless unless used early. 

Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and Pleurisy. 

Bronchitis is properly an inflammation of the lining of 
the air tubes or a part of them. Pneumonia is an 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 551 

inflammation of the air cells; but as there is no line of 
demarcation which shows where the tubes cease and the 
cells commence, it is usual to find bronchitis and pneu- 
monia present together. This is then called broncho- 
pneumonia. 

It commences commonly with a chill followed by fever, 
short breathing, cough, headache, wakefulness, and loss 
of appetite with marked thirst. 

The characteristic symptoms are cough and short breath- 
ing, with dilated nostrils. These symptoms are severe 
in proportion to the extent of the attack and the nature 
of the infection. 

Generally, the disease lasts from seven to ten days, 
when uncomplicated, before the severity of the symp- 
toms lessen and the child is convalescing. 

Broncho-pneumonia is not so dangerous in children as 
in adults. Children generally recover and show no 
bad results. Many have the disease every year when one 
to four years old, and are perfectly healthy afterward. 

Some call this disease capillary bronchitis, but treat it 
the same, and the course and convalescence are similar. 

The disease- is generally severe and requires prompt 
attention from both physician and mother. Great care 
should be given to the air the patient breathes. This 
should be fresh and changed regularly, but uniformly 
warmed up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit night and day. 

In severe cases there is difficulty in aerating the blood 
from insufficiency of air. These children show a leady, 
bluish color, and are serious cases, with very rapid breath- 
ing. 

They should be given plenty of room and not ham- 
pered by extra clothing, as they change position very 
frequently to get relief. They will require the hot bath 



552 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

often to redden up the skin and relieve the pressure of 
blood on the lungs till the physician can give relief. 

Cold drinks are desirable and beneficial always in small 
amounts. 

Where the breathing is catchy and painful, preventing 
a long breath, it shows that the inflammation has extended 
through the lungs to the surface lining or covering if 
them and the ribs, and thus caused this painful cough and 
breathing. This condition is called a pleurisy, or a 
pleuro-pneumonia. 

Such cases are very distressing and painful, requiring 
some anodyne to ease the suffering and secure sleep. 

All diseases of the lungs involve such large and impor- 
tant structures that the physician should direct all treat- 
ment, both medicinal and dietetic. 

Inflammation of the lungs, in children of tubercular 
parentage, is likely to stimulate the tubercular growth in 
their lungs. This is particularly evident where it is com- 
plicated with whooping cough, or where the child is near 
puberty. 

Pneumonia or bronchitis in a child suffering with 
whooping cough makes a very dangerous complication. 
It usually lasts as long as the whooping cough does, and 
even so aggravates the latter as to make it a very long 
and tedious attack, if the child recovers. The soft flesh and 
yellowish- white color of tli3se convalescents demand 
months of recuperation to recover their former vigorous 
appearance. 

Styes. 

These are small, inflamed swellings on the edge of the 
lids. They appear in children with defective sight, indi- 
cating a necessity for an oculist's examination and glasses 
to relieve the eye strain. 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 553 

This strain of the eyes in school children results in 
soreness of the lids also, and can only be remedied by 
properly adjusted glasses and lessened eye labor. 

Poor health will in some school children also cause 
irritation of the eyelashes and consequent styes. Such 
children require sunshine, outdoor exercise, no study, 
good food, and cod-liver oil, with an iron tonic, such as 
Remedy No. 60, taken alternately for weeks or months 
till good health is established. 

Styes can be averted occasionally by free bathing in 
hot water with boracic acid, one teaspoonful to the pint 
of water. The water must be kept hot while bathing. 
To accomplish this, the small dish with the boracic acid 
solution should be set in a larger dish of boiling water. 
After each bathing, spirits of camphor should be applied 
freely to the inflamed lid. 

Squint-Eye; Strabismus. 

This is a great detriment to any child or adult. Par- 
ents can do nothing for it themselves, but they chould 
be very persistent in consulting an oculist on this subject, 
and then follow his advice carefully, as he may, by treat- 
ment alone, be able to correct the unequal action of the 
eye muscles. In some cases, wearing glasses assists 
materially in the correction. In extreme cases, an opera- 
tion may be needed, which is neither painful nor danger- 
ous to sight ; but there are not so many of these cases 
demanding an operation now as formerly, as treatment 
and glasses are relieving most of them. 

. Tubercle and Unhealthy Mucous Membrane. 

Parents should always remember that the tubercular 
taint or stain, when not inherited, usually enters the 



554 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

body through some denuded or weakened part of the 
mucous membrane. 

The mucous membrane is the lining or covering of the 
internal structures as the skin is of the outer parts of 
the body. The two main divisions of this membrane are 
those covering or lining the air passages and lungs, and 
those lining the digestive organs and mouth. 

Healthy mucous membrane is, like healthy skin, able to 
resist the inroads of poisonous material. Denuded, sore, 
or injured mucous membrane loses this protective power, 
and then poisonous or contagious material, like dry tuber- 
cular dust or other infectious poisons, finds an easy 
ingress or road into an otherwise healthy body. 

This diseased condition of the mucous membrane is 
commonly seen in the child suffering from recent or old 
catarrh of the nose, sore throat, enlarged tonsils, bron- 
chitis or pneumonia, — all parts of the breathing organs. 

It also occurs in the child with sore mouth, tender 
gums, decayed teeth, indigestion, diarrhea, or dysentery, 
all arising from diseased parts of the mucous membrane 
lining the digestive tract. 

Past experience has shown that the great bulk of 
humanity have been continually exposed to tubercular 
infection at times. The numerous deaths from this 
disease make it impossible for people to be otherwise 
placed. 

The resistance to infection is the " Vis naturae" in- 
herent in each individual. Those inheriting the tuber- 
cular constitution are known to have less of this resist- 
ance to tubercle than those fortunately born without 
this weakness. 

Natural resistance to tubercular infection or contagion 
is also in direct ratio with the general good health of 



GENERAL DISEASE AND DERANGEMENTS. 555 

the child. General good health may be defined, for our 
purpose, as a strong body containing plenty of good 
rich blood, and no broken, damaged, weak or sore tissues 
or mucous membranes. 

The strong body may be likened to a beehive with no 
cracks, breaks, or openings except those required for 
daily use of the inmates. 

Good, rich blood, in plentiful quantity, will then be 
well illustrated by the bees in the hive; always ready, able 
and willing to slaughter and cast out all unwelcome 
intruders such as tubercle. 

Statistics show that only a very small proportion of 
children dying from tubercular affections have received 
the poison through the digestive tract. Some patholo- 
gists claim that not more than two per cent, of those 
under two years old are infected in this way. 

This leaves the great bulk of these cases who do not 
inherit this weakness, and possibly many of them also, 
receiving their contagious stain through the air passages. 

If, then, general good health is the protection requisite, 
what folly it is for a mother, who is herself delicate, to 
try to do the impossible by nursing her own child. 

Or to consider it possible for her child to be safe when 
it does not gain at least four to six ounces weekly in 
weight from the first week of its life. Without this 
weekly gain it cannot enjoy that strong resistance needed 
against tubercle. 

Or to think that a continued discharge from the nose, 
an obstructed nose or large tonsils are safe and will pass 
away as the child grows older. 

Or to be satisfied with a child who has recurring sores 
in the mouth, is always cross and restless, vomits" 



556 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

frequently, and has such foul smelling stools as cannot 
come from any but a diseased digestive tract. 

Such are only a few of the unnatural and unpleasant 
conditions which may give the thoughtful parent warning 
of tubercular possibilities ahead. 

Only the best condition of health at all ages, giving 
the quietest sleep and the most vigorous growth, can be 
safely considered a reliable protection against this mal- 
ady. 

The low percentage of tubercular invasion through the 
digestive tract shows us that danger does not come 
through the milk and other food nearly so often as 
through breathing the dust laden with dry tubercular 
matter. 

Water on the Brain; Hydrocephalus. 

This is due to an increase of the natural fluids sur- 
rounding the brain, and is caused by an inflammation of 
the membrane covering the brain. When this occurs 
before the bones of the head become solid and fastened 
together at the sutures or joints, it causes the bones to 
spread apart, and allows the head to become greatly 
enlarged. The fontanelles of bad cases never close, and 
those of the mild ones remain open for three or four 
years. 

Such children always look top heavy, the forehead pro- 
jecting over the eyes and the sides of the head over the 
ears, while the voluminous top towers up like a two-story 
head. This largeness is often too much for the neck to 
support, and prevents young children from sitting up 
till quite old. 

Many mild cases of small enlargement are bright and 



GENERAL DISEASES AND DERANGEMENTS. 557 

keen mentally, but those of greater deformity may be 
equally weakened mentally. 

The mild cases may be much benefited by medicinal 
treatment. A careful examination by the physician 
should be early obtained, and a proper line of treatment 
adopted. Most of these cases require a tonic or strength- 
ening course to improve the general health. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



REMEDIES. 



In this chapter the preparation of foods, internal medi- 
cines, external applications, lotions, washes, baths, and 
disinfectants is explained in condensed form for ready 
reference. All mixtures, foods, and preparations referred 
to in the previous text will be found here also, as well as 
many that are not mentioned there. 

There will be found also a list of remedies in common 
use and the method of computing the dose for different 
ages. As many remedies are ordered in drops, it has 
been found desirable to explain the differences existing in 
the sizes of drops of different liquids. 

Dietary. 

As three-fourths of the illnesses during the first two 
years of childhood are due to disturbances of the digestive 
organs, it has been found necessary to give most careful 
attention to the dietary of the infant. By this means it 
is hoped that parents will avail themselves of the most 
approved and successful methods in feeding their infants, 
not only to avoid sicknesses at present, but also to avoid 
illness and those bad results in development which 
are so common in later months and years, when infants 
are improperly nourished in the beginning of their lives. 

558 



REMEDIES. 559 

The aim is not only to prepare foods suitable for those 
who are quite well, but also to give a range wide enough 
to suit the digestive organs of even the most delicate. 
The idea prominent with the writer is to always use foods 
for the infant of which all the constituents are known, and 
that will nourish and develop all parts of the body in due 
proportion, thus avoiding the inequalities and deformi- 
ties commonly seen in the rickety, scorbutic, and other 
sickly children, when fed on unknown or proprietary 
foods, which rush the growth of one part of the body to 
the detriment of the other parts. 

Cream and Milk Mixtures. 

No. 1. These mixtures for all months during the first 
year are shown on pages 87, 98 and 104. 

Cereal or Starch Waters. 

No. 2. Oatmeal Staech Watee. — Oatmeal, one 
tablespoonful; or rolled oats, two tablespoonf uls ; water, 
one quart. Boil for three hours, adding boiling water 
enough to have a pint when finished. This is added 
to milk for infantile feeding, as shown on pages 109 
110, 137 and 138. 

No. 3. Oatmeal Jelly. — Made like No. 2, but 
increase the oatmeal to twice the amount. Used for older 
children, where a stronger food than oatmeal water is 
required. 

No. 4. Baeley Staech Watee. — Pearl barley, one 
tablespoonful; water, one quart. Cook as directed in 
No. 2, and use as a substitute for oatmeal water in loose 
bowels. 

No. 5. Rice Staech Watee. — Rice, one tablespoonful 
(heaping) ; water, one quart. Cook like No. 2. Is 



560 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

used as a substitute for milk in cholera infantum, or as 
an addition to milk for feeding infants (pages 109, 110 
137 and 138). 

No. 6. Aeeowroot Water. — Add one teaspoonful of 
arrowroot to a little cold water; rub till pasty. Add one 
pint of boiling water and boil from five to ten minutes, 
stirring constantly. This is often added to milk mix- 
tures to break the solid curd forming in the child's 
stomach. 

No. 7. Toast Water. — Two slices of dark brown 
toast, added to one quart of boiling water. When, cool, 
use for sick stomach or as a drink when thirsty. 

Albumen Mixtures. 

No. 8. Albumen Water. — The white of one egg; 
one small glassful of water. Rub the egg with a case knife 
on a plate with a spoonful of water. Do not whip 
the egg, as this makes it frothy. Mix the egg and 
water together, strain, and sweeten if needed for the 
taste of the child. Or. mix the egg and water together in 
a large-mouthed bottle and shake slowly until dissolved; 
then strain and flavor as needed. This must always 
be fed cold. 

This is used occasionally in bowel disturbances as a 
substitute for milk, but must be carefully watched, as it 
often causes foul, green stools. 

No. 9. Egg and Barley Water. — White of one egg; 
barley water, eight ounces; white sugar, one and one-half 
teaspoonfuls. Is often useful in a convalescing child 
when milk is not successful. Rice water is made in the 
same way as barley water, and may be substituted for it. 



REMEDIES. 561 

Gum Waters. 

No. 10. Gum, Arabic Water. — Gum arabic, one 
heaping tablespoonful; boiling water, one pint. Mix and 
let stand. When dissolved, sweeten and add lemon to 
taste. Is used like barley or rice water. 

No. 11. Gelatine Water. — Soak a piece of gela- 
tine the size of the palm of the hand in cold water; 
then dissolve it in half a pint of boiling water. It is 
used like gum arabic water. 

No. 12. Flaxseed Tea. — Flaxseed, one tablespoon, 
ful; boiling water, one pint. Let simmer for an hour, 
then strain and sweeten. Flavor with lemon to taste. 

No. 13. Dr. J. F. Meigs* Gelatine Food. — Add one 
teaspoonful of freshly made arrowroot paste (Remedy 
No. 6) to half a pint of boiling gelatine water (Remedy 
No. 11). Flavor with sugar and cream to taste. Dr. 
Meigs found this suitable for delicate stomachs. 

Whey and Its Mixtures. 

No. 11. Whey. — Add one or two teaspoonfuls of es- 
sence of pepsin to half a pint of old, sweet, warmed milk. 
Jersey milk should not be used. Let stand; when curdled, 
whip with a fork and strain soon after. Fresh milk does 
not make whey easily. This is useful as a temporary 
food in delicate stomachs, but cannot be continued long 
without meat juice or starch being added regularly to it. 

No. 15. Wine Whey. — Old. sweet, boiling milk, eight 
ounces; sherry wine, two ounces. Let stand till curdled, 
then whip and strain. 

No. 16. Whey and Cream Mixture. — Whey, three 
ounces; cream, one to one and one-half ounces; warm 
water, two ounces; sugar (cane), one-half teaspoonful. 



562 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

This is a very useful mixture, and may be continued 
indefinitely as a food in children with a constipated condi- 
tion of the bowels. It should be fed promptly when 
mixed. 

Foods for Very Delicate Infants. 

There is a class of children whose stomachs have been 
damaged by unhealthy mother's milk, cow's milk improp- 
erly prepared, patent foods, overfeeding, trying all 
kinds of foods, sudden weaning, or feeding from the 
parents' table. These children have suffered from inflam- 
mation of the lining of the stomach and bowels as a con- 
sequence of this dietetic abuse. They have lost the power 
to digest milk, and it causes vomiting and loose, green, 
foul stools whenever fed, even in small quantities. For 
these children, the following mixtures will often be found 
nourishing and most acceptable, not causing any voniiting 
and giving stools well-digested and healthy in odor, 
color, and consistence. 

Milk Foods for Very Delicate Infants. 

No. 17. Cream and Rice Mixture. — Cream, one 
ounce (two tablespoonfuls) ; rice water, two ounces; lime 
water, two teaspoonfuls; water (boiled), two ounces; sugar, 
one teaspoonful. With this mixture, the mother should 
never feed enough to cause vomiting. Feed every two 
hours. Decrease the amount of cream if the bowels are 
loose or show curds in the stool. When constipated, in- 
crease the cream. Increase the proportion of rice water 
as long as there are regular daily stools. Rice water pro- 
duces constipation when fed too freely. This is a very 
nutritious food and may be continued indefinitely by 
gradually increasing the proportions or the amount fed 



REMEDIES. 563 

at a meal. Always wait two days after each increase to 
see that healthy stools follow, and thus allow another 
safe increase. 

No. 18. Whey and Rice Mixture. — Whey, two 
ounces; rice water, two ounces; lime water, one teaspoon - 
ful; water, one ounce; sugar, one teaspoonful. This is a 
very mild food, but a very nourishing one. It is applicable 
to the extremely tender stomachs following bad attacks 
of indigestion, or long continued indigestion, with loose, 
green, foul stools. It is suitable to the same clasp as 
No. 15, and will agree with the most delicate of them if 
not overfed. The whey is more easily digested than the 
cream, but should be varied in amount in the same way 
as the cream is in No. 17. 

No. 19. Cream, Whey, and Rice Mixture.— Cream, 
one ounce; whey, two ounces; rice water, two ounces; 
granulated sugar, one-half teaspoonful. This is a very 
valuable and nutritious food for delicate children where 
it does not loosen the bowels. 

No. 20. Flour Ball. — Boil one pound of flour in a 
pudding-bag ten or twelve hours. When cold, dry it 
thoroughly, and peel off the thick outside skin, leaving the 
dry inside ball. Grate one teaspoonful of this ball, and 
add to half pint of hot dilute milk. This makes a good 
food for many children over six months old. 

Nitrogenous or Meat Poods. 

No. 21. Veal Tea. — Put one pound of finely cut 
lean veal into one pint of warm water; let it simmer for 
two hours, adding warm water to maintain one pint of 
liquid. When cool, remove the fat, warm again and feed. 

No. 22. Beef Tea. — Add one pound of lean minced 
beef to one pint of warm water; let these stand for an 



564 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

hour, then simmer for an hour. When cold, remove fat, 
warm, season and feed. 

No. 23= Twenty Minute Beef Tea. — One pound 
minced lean beef ; boiling water, half a pint. Simmer for 
twenty minutes, strain into a cup, and place in ice water. 
Remove the fat, warm, season and feed. 

No. 24. Scraped Raw Meat. — Scrape fine tender- 
loin steak into shreds ; pound these in a mortar to a pulp ; 
flavor with salt or sugar, and make into little balls, or 
mix with a little water into a cream for young children. 
May be fed warm or cold. 

This will often be retained on a tender stomach when 
other foods are rejected. It is very nourishing, but 
causes foul, dark stools. Feed one or two teaspoonfuls 
each day for children under one year old. 

No. 25. Beef Juice. — Is expressed from lean meat, 
slightly broiled, by cutting it in squares and then squeez- 
ing these in a lemon press. Where a large amount is 
required, a meat press, such as shown in Figure 21, 
should be used. These can be obtained at any good 
hardware store for fifty cents. 

In using the different forms of meat preparations for 
feeding infants, care must be exercised neither to loosen 
the bowels nor clog the kidneys by feeding too freely. 
Where there is any evidence of deficient urine, while the 
infant obtains plenty of liquid, the meat preparations 
should be abandoned, and the cream or whey ones used. 
Nothing stimulates sluggish kidneys so well as the 
whey in milk, when milk itself cannot be taken. 

Where rice or barley water is added to meat juices, 
care should be taken to first know that the infant's 
stomach will receive the meat juice alone without vom- 
iting. This requires careful trial. The rice or barley 



REMEDIES. 565 

water should be added only in teaspoonful quantities 
to avoid vomiting, and always wait the two days 
needed by the stools to prove perfect digestion before 
again increasing the amount of food. While these are 
healthy, the rice or barley water may be increased one 
teaspoonful to each feeding every two days. This speed 
of increase is as rapid as it is safe to go in these delicate 
children. 

Substitute Foods in Place of Milk or Proprietary- 
Foods for Infants with Damaged 
Digestive Organs. 

No. 26. Where a mother finds it necessary to select 
some form of animal or meat juice to nourish a child 
who cannot digest milk or other foods, the following tables, 
written in their order of increasing strengths, and also 
showing the strength of the different elements, will read- 
ily suggest the one most suitable : 

No. 1. Whey.— Composed of proteids, 0.86: fat, 0.32; 
sugar, 4.75. Will only partly nourish; should have rice 
or barley starch gradually added to it. Beef juice may 
also be added in small amounts to increase the nourish- 
ing power. 

No. 2. Beef Beoth. — Composed of proteid, 1.02; 
extractives, 1.85; fat, 0.00; sugar, 0.00. This must also 
have rice or barley starch added to it after a few days' 
feeding, to nourish a child, or as soon as the stomach 
accepts the food properly. 

No. 3. Beef Juice, Expeessed. — Composed of pro- 
teids, 2.95; fat, 0.60; extractives, 3 Ad. Stronger than 
beef broth; acts on the bowels of some infants. Should 
also have rice or barley starch added but heat onlv to 
100 degrees when feeding. 



566 . FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

No. 4. Beef Juice, Gold Water Process. — Com- 
posed of proteid, 3.00; fat, 0.00; extractives, 1.95. A -little 
stronger than the expressed form. Must not be heated 
over 100 degrees. Should have rice or barley added at 
feeding time. Is also laxative to some. 

No. 26J. Lime Water. — Place a lump of lime, as 
big as an orange, in a gallon of boiled water. After the 
lime slacks, stir the water once daily; cover well, and use 
as needed. Add fresh water as used. Lime water can- 
not be made over a definite strength, as water only dis- 
solves so much lime, whether hot or cold. It is never 
too strong. 

Peptonized Foods. 

These are needed at times during convalescence from 
diseases of the stomach and bowels, where the digestive 
glands are not able to secrete enough fluid to digest the 
food received, and prevent that decomposition of it which 
always causes distress with foul stools, and perpetuates 
the sickness. Peptonization is mostly applicable to milk 
and meat juices. Starchy foods are not changed by 
pepsin, but are digested by pancreatin. 

The secretions of the stomach and pancreas are used 
for this purpose. They are called, respectively, pepsin 
and pancreatin, and are put up in tablets by Parke, Davis 
& Co., and in tubes by Fairchild. Two tablets are equal 
to one tube of five grains. 

For peptonizing, Nature's heat, about 100 degrees 
Fahrenheit, is needed. Cold checks the process tempo- 
rarily, and overheating or boiling destroys it entirely. 
The heating should run from 105 to 115 degrees for 
rapid work. (The 115 degrees, proper heat, is all the 
finger will bear without scalding it.) When continued 



REMEDIES. 567 

too long, this develops the bitter taste of the peptones 
and spoils it for feeding. To avoid this requires con- 
stant tasting, to detect the first evidence of it. The 
mixture should then be quickly boiled to check further 
peptonizing before reaching the stomach of the patient. 
It can be warmed again when fed. 

No. 27. Peptonized Milk. — Dissolve one peptonizing 
tablet or half a tube in four tablespoonfuls of cool water, 
then add half a pint of milk. Heat to 110 degrees 
Fahrenheit in the water bath, and continue until the 
bitter taste commences, about twenty to thirty minutes, 
then boil quickly. Children will not take it if the bitter 
peptone taste is developed. 

No. 28. Peptonized Milk Mixtures, Sterilized. — 
These are made by sterilizing the mixture of cream, or 
milk and cream, that may be needed for the child. First 
dissolve one tablet or half tube in two ounces of cold 
water for every half pint of mixture you deem suitable to 
the infant, and proceed as in No. 27. While hot, pour 
into bottles just out of boiling water, stopple with steril- 
ized cotton, and put in the refrigerator. 

No. 29. Peptogenic Milk Powder. — This is a pro- 
prietary article, which is suited to some children, but 
like all standard strengths, lacks that elasticity needed in 
infant feeding. It contains casein in too large propor- 
tions for most infants. It is mixed with the milk, cream 
and water, according to directions given with it. 

No. 30. Peptonized Beef Tea. — After making beef 
tea as in No. 22, it is cooled to 115 degrees, or where it 
will not scald the finger ; then one tablet is added to every 
half pint, and stirred well till dissolved. Continue this 
heat for an hour or two, testing for the bitter taste; then 
boil quickly, strain and season. 



568 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BAByC 

No. 3.1. Peptonized Oysters. — Cut up, mince, or 
pulverize finely half a dozen oysters. Boil them with their 
juice and half a pint of water; add twenty grains extract 
pancreas and fifteen grains of bicarbonate of soda and heat 
to 115 degrees for an hour and a half, or till the bitter taste 
commences. Then boil with half pint of milk and season 
to taste. 

No. 32. Peptonized Geuel. — To half a pint of ordi- 
nary water gruel, add half a pint of hot peptonized milk. 

No. 33. Peptonized Milk Toast. — This is made by 
adding peptonized milk (Eemedy No. 27) to the toast, 
then serving it as ordinary milk toast. 

No. 34. Peptonized Milk Punch. — In this prepara- 
tion, peptonized milk (Remedy No. 27) is added to the 
stimulant and crushed ice, instead of ordinary milk. 

No. 35. Nutrient Enemata Peptonized. — The enema 
more than any other food demands predigestion.. It 
should be made a standing rule to always peptonize beef 
tea or milk used in this way. The digestive power of 
the rectum is so small, and the decomposing power is so 
great, that it seems wrong not to protect the enema from 
the latter force by peptonizing it. Bitterness here offers 
no obstacles, so that predigestion can be carried to its 
greatest power in order to facilitate rapid absorption, 
which is the natural function of the lower bowel. Small 
enemas must be used in infants, as the bowel is small 
and rejects an enema if too large. About one teaspoonful 
may be given for every year of the infant's age. 

Any of the peptonized meat or milk preparations may 
be used. Preparations of blood may be used raw, but 
are better peptonized. Peptonized milk or beef juice 
may be used, but it is better to inject these mixtures 
while warm without boiling, thus allowing the con- 



REMEDIES. 569 

firmed action of the peptonizing tablets or tubes in the 
rectum. Enemas may be repeated every eight hours. 

No. 36. Peptonized Egg Enema. — White of one egg, 
rubbed up with three tablespoonfuls of water, requires 
two tablets or one tube to predigest it. Warm the 
mixture to 105 degrees and inject while warm with a 
baby ear syringe or a hard rubber one (Figs. 3 and 4). 
This is very nourishing and may be repeated every eight 
hours. 

Remedies for Internal Use. 

No. 37. Soda Mint. — Bicarbonate of soda, forty 
grains; aromatic spirits of ammonia, one-half fluidrachm; 
peppermint water enough to make two fluidounces. Put 
one teaspoonful in a cup of hot water for a child one 
year old. Is useful for gassy or foul stomach from over- 
eating. 

No. 38. Laxative Alkaline Mixtuke. — Bicarbonate 
of soda, forty grains; aromatic syrup of rhubarb, four 
fluidrachms; syrup of senna, five fluidrachms; syrup 
of orange, one nuidounce. One teaspoonful two or 
three times a day as needed, in sour, gassy stomach with 
constipation or foul-smelling stools. 

No. 39. Chalk and Bismuth Mixture. — Subnitrate 
of bismuth, two drachms; chalk mixture, two fluidounces; 
paregoric, two fluidrachms. One-half to one teaspoonful 
every two to four hours as needed for loose bowels in a 
child six months to two years old. 

No. 40. Saline Aperient, — Sulphate of magnesia, 
two ounces; cream of tartar, two ounces. Give one-half 
teaspoonful in water every three hours till the bowels 
move freely, in a child one year old. 

No. 41. Sore Mouth Powder. — Powdered borax, one • 



570 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

drachm; powdered sugar, four drachms. Put a pinch on 
the tongue every two or three hours. The child's tongue 
will work it around all sore parts. This secures continu- 
ous dressing of the mouth, and avoids the pain and sore- 
ness caused by washing or swabbing. 

No. 42. Foul oe Sour Stomach Powders. — Calo- 
mel, one grain; soda bicarbonate, ten grains. Divide 
into ten powders, and give one every one or two hours 
until the bowels move! 

No. 43. Digestive Assistants. — Essence of pepsin, 
one ounce; essence of pancreatin, one ounce. Give ten 
to twenty drops after each meal for a child one year old. 
Increase the dose gradually till the stools show perfect 
digestion. 

No. 44. Slimy Stool Powders, No. 1. — Bismuth 
subgallate, one drachm ; soda bicarbonate, one-half drachm. 
Divide into twenty powders and give one every three 
hours. Always lessen the food with these powders. 

For Frequent Loose, Slimy Stools (with Pain), 
No. 2. — Bismuth subgallate, one drachm; soda bicar- 
bonate, one-half drachm; Dover's powder, ten grains. 
Divide into twenty powders. Give one every two hours 
as needed for a child nine to twelve months old. 

No. 45. Fever Mixture, No. 1. — Sweet spirits of 
nitre, two fluidrachms; nitrate of potash, one-half drachm; 
liquor ammoniae acetate, two fluidrachms; simple syrup, 
one-half ounce; water enough for two ounces. One tea- 
spoonful every two to three hours for a child one year old 
till fever subsides. 

No. 46. Fever Mixture, No. 2. — Put ten drops of 
tincture of aconite in one-half cup of water, and give one 
teaspoonful every fifteen minutes till the child perspires. 
For a child one year old. 



REMEDIES. 571 

No. 47, Croup Mixture. — Syrnp of ipecac, three 
iiuidrachms; hive syrup, four fluidrachms; water, one 
and one-half fluidounces. Half a teaspoonful every half 
hour till the child vomits, and then repeat the dose every 
two or three hours as needed. 

No. 48. Pink Powder for Colds. — Biniodide of 
mercury, one grain; milk sugar, one hundred grains. 
This makes one hundred doses. Give one dose every two 
or three hours to a one-year-old baby. 

No. 49. Cough and Cold Mixture. — Syrup of 
Dover's powder, one fluidrachm; tincture of aconite, ten 
drops; enough simple syrup for two ounces. Half a tea- 
spoonful every two hours for a child one year old. 

No. 50. ' Cold, Cough, and Fever Powders. — Acet- 
anelid, one-half drachm; Dover's powder, one-half drachm. 
Divide into thirty powders. Give half a powder every two 
hours while awake or restless. Suitable for all ordinary 
colds, croup, whooping cough, or obstinate coughing at 
night. Dose for one-year-old child. 

No. 51. Jeaunel's General Poison Antidote, 
No. 1, — Calcined magnesia, two ounces; animal char- 
coal, one ounce; water, twenty fluidounces. 

No. 2. — Monsel's solution of iron, two fluidounces. In 
cases of poisoning, mix these two together and shake 
well. Give two tablespoonfuls every half hour or less 
till vomiting ensues. ' 

No. 52. Emetics. — A teaspoonful of syrup of ipecac 
every fifteen minutes till vomiting follows. 

A tablespoonful of goose grease or any drippings used 
in the kitchen for cooking. 

. A half teaspoonful of alum in a wineglassful of water 
or syrup. 

Tickle the throat with a feather, your finger, or a 



572 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

spoon handle, if vomiting does not quickly follow those 
remedies. 

A teaspoonful of mustard in half glass of warm water 
will often succeed when other remedies fail. 

Two teaspoonf uls of common salt in a wineglassful of 
water. 

No. 53. Injection for Convulsions.- — Bromide of 
potash, five grains; bromide of soda, five grains; chloral 
hydrate, five grains; water, two fluidounces. Inject 
one tablespoonful into the bowel and repeat in two hours 
if needed. 

No. 54. Mixture to Prevent Convulsions. — Bro- 
mide of potash, one-half drachm; chloral hydrate, 
fifteen grains; simple syrup, two ounces. Give one tea- 
spoonful every hour, while nervous or feverish, to pre- 
vent convulsions. Suitable dose for one-year-old child. 

No. 55. Sore Throat Gargle, No. 1. — Soda bicar- 
bonate, one-half teaspoonful; hot water, one-half cupful. 
Use as a gargle every three hours in children eight to 
twelve years old. 

No. 2. — Lime water, one-half cupful; hot water, one- 
half cupful. This is very pleasant, and strong enough 
for children eight to twelve years old. 

No. 56. Worm Powders. — Santonin, twelve grains; 
calomel, three grains. Divide into six powders. Give 
one night and morning while fasting. Suitable dose for 
a child five to ten years old. 

No. 57. Injection for Seat Worms. — Quassia chips, 
one ounce; common salt, one-half ounce; water, one pint. 
Soak over night and inject very slowly all the bowel will 
hold. Kepeat once each week till all are removed. 

No. 58. For Bed Wetting. — Tincture of belladon- 
na, one-half ounce. Give five drops at bedtime, and in- 



REMEDIES. 573 

crease the dose one drop each night until it produces a 
fine scarlet rash on the skin. Mark this " Poison." 

No. 59. For Scalding or Painful Urise. — Sweet 
spirits of nitre, one ounce; acetate of potash, one drachm. 
Give five to ten drops every three hours to one-year-old child. 

No. 60. Blood Tonic. — Syrup of iron iodide, or syrup 
of iron phosphate, one ounce. Give three to ten drops 
three times a day. Continue this for one to three months 
or till health and color are perfect. This dose is for one- 
year-old child. 

Poultices and Plasters. 

Poultices are not used now as much by the medical pro- 
fession as they were in years gone by. This is due to 
the danger following dressings of an unsterilized nature 
on raw or open sores or wounds. All poultices should be 
made thoroughly sterile by boiling, and then when ap- 
plied, they should be bandaged on carefully so that they 
cannot move or become exposed to air till such time as 
they should be replaced by a new poultice. A poultice 
should be covered- by parafhne paper, oiled silk, or thin 
rubber cloth, and the bandages applied over these. By 
doing this, both the heat and moisture of the poultice are 
retained for a long time, and the success of the dressing 
is materially enhanced. 

Where a poultice dries too rapidly, it is because it has 
not been boiled enough, is not made thick enough, or 
does not contain enough mucilaginous or oily matter. A 
poultice should be made about one-half inch thick, and 
soft enough to fit or mould to the shape of the part re- 
ceiving it; but not so soft that it will run away from the 
higher parts when applied. 

The object of a poultice is to apply moist heat and thus 
soothe swollen or painful parts. It should be renewed 



574 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

before it becomes cold or dry. According to the cover- 
ing of a poultice or its exposure, is the time it requires 
before renewal. Painful swellings demand and are re- 
lieved by heat, and thus require frequent renewals of the 
poultice. Other parts not painful do not require change 
of poultice while it remains moist and comfortably warm. 
Thus the time a poultice is beneficial varies from one to 
eight hours. Where the ingredients from which a poul- 
tice is made are dry and crumbly, like bread or meal, 
sufficient lard, oil, or vaseline should be added and mixed 
well with the poultice to give it cohesiveness, prevent it 
drying while applied, and avoid sticking to the skin or 
sore parts. 

No. 61. Flaxseed Poultice. 

Add flaxseed meal very slowly to water while boiling 
until all becomes as thick as porridge. Continue the heat 
with constant stirring for ten minutes, then spread^ on 
cotton and cover with gauze or cheese cloth, which makes 
the cover next the skin. Test the lower side of the poultice 
against the cheek, to secure a comfortable heat before 
applying it. Cover with paraffine paper, oiled silk, rubber, 
or flannel to retain the heat, and bandage snugly to avoid 
slipping or moving. Renew when cool. If the flaxseed 
meal is very powdery, add one or two teaspoonfuls of oil or 
vaseline to the poultice to prevent drying. 

No. 62. Slippeky Elm Poultice. 

This is made from ground slippery elm bark in the same 
way as the flaxseed poultice. 

No. 63. Mush Poultice. 

This is made from cornmeal, but requires oil or 
vaseline also to make it cohesive. It is not as good as 
the flaxseed or slippery elm poultice. 



REMEDIES. 575 

No. 64. Bread and Milk Poultice. 
In this the bread and milk are boiled together till 
thoroughly soft. Stir well and squeeze out all extra 
milk before applying. 

No. 65. Bread and Water Poultice. 
This is made in the same way as No. 64, but requires 
to have the extra water squeezed out of the bread and 
vaseline or lard mixed in to make the poultice cohesive. 

No. 66. Bran Poultice. 

When a light but thick poultice is required, , bran 
should be boiled with water, and all placed in a bag and 
tied tightly. After pressing out the surplus water, 
apply to the part, but cover well as this cools very rapidly. 

No. 67. Hop Poultice. 

Where a very light poultice is required, hops are used 
instead of bran. They require most perfect covering to 
retain the heat, as they are so open and loose that they 
cool very rapidly when exposed. 

No. 68. Starch Poultice. 

This is a smooth poultice intended as a soothing appli- 
cation to abraded or tender surfaces. It is made of thick 
boiled starch spread on cotton and applied directly with- 
out any intermediate muslin or gauze. 

No. 69. Mustard Poultice 

And mustard plaster (Remedy No. 76) are the same. 

No. 70. Charcoal Poultice. 

This was popular and often used before the advent of 
disinfectants. It is made by mixing powdered charcoal 
and flaxseed meal together in equal parts, or by sprinkling 



576 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

powdered charcoal freely over the surface of the flaxseed 
poultice. This was applied to foul smelling sores. 

No. 71. Jacket Poultice. 

In lung affections, the linseed poultice seems to be 
losing some of the popularity it held a few years ago. 
Perhaps the almost certain crop of pimples or boils which 
follow on the seat of its application has deterred some 
physicians from using it. 

This poultice is made wide enough to reach from the 
collar bone to the lower edge of the ribs, and long 
enough to surround the child and be pinned together like 
a bandage. Short pieces of cloth are pinned to the 
upper edge of the poultice and passed over each shoulder 
and pinned to the opposite edge to keep the poultice 
from sliding down. These poultices need not be changed 
more than two or three times in the twenty-four hours, 
except where there is severe pain or cyanosis. Then 
rapid, hot changes are required to relieve this distress. 

No. 72. Antiseptic Poultice. 
This is an admirable dressing and very acceptable to 
the patient as well as the physician. It is made by cut- 
ting cheese cloth or gauze into proper sized squares, 
and repeating them till thick enough, ten to twenty thick- 
nesses. These are soaked in hot disinfecting lotion 
(Remedy No. 94), and applied well covered with paraffme 
paper or oiled silk, to retain the heat and moisture, and 
then bandaged. This dressing is light, sweet, warm, 
and comfortable; better than the ordinary poultice. 

No. 73. Cotton Poultice. 
This is probably the most comfortable and suitable 
form of poultice that can be applied to boils, abscesses, 



REMEDIES. 577 

sore ears, or other painful parts. For this poultice, 
squares of absorbent cotton are cut the size required 
and the thickness needed to keep warm. All these 
squares except one are saturated with a hot antiseptic 
lotion (Kemedy No. 94), and applied to the sore part. 
The dry one is used to cover the moist ones, and all 
are covered with paraffine paper, oiled silk, rubber 
cloth or flannel, and bandaged comfortably. If properly 
applied, this does not require renewal before eight to 
twelve hours. 

This cotton poultice controls all bad odors, absorbs all 
discharges, and disinfects the skin and the sore also. No 
pimples follow this dressing, and it prevents any poison- 
ing of the wound or sore. 

No. 74. Tuepentine Stupe. 

This is made by sprinkling a few drops of turpentine 
on a flannel cloth just wrung out of hot water. It 
should be applied as hot as possible and well covered 
with paraffine paper or oiled silk, and dry flannels over all. 
These stupes are beneficial, but require very frequent 
changes to keep them hot. The turpentine should be 
removed when the skin is irritated and red. 

No. 75. Spice Poultice. 

This is useful for abdominal pain in children. It is 
made of equal parts of ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice 
and ginger, with one-fourth part of cayenne pepper if 
needed very strong. All should be placed together in a 
flannel bag and spread equally. Wet it with alcohol or 
whisky. This poultice lasts indefinitely by again wetting 
it with the alcohol. It is a mild, warming dressing, and 
the aromatic oils are beneficial. 

37 



578 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

No. 76. Mustard Plaster. 

This should be called a poultice rather than a plaster. 
Mustard plasters are made of variable strengths, accord- 
ing to the age of the patient, the strength of the skin 
to which it is to be applied, and the effect required on 
the skin. Mustard deteriorates by exposure. It should 
always be kept in a tin or glass vessel, closely covered 
from the air. When kept this way it remains good, and 
does not lose its vesicating power on the skin when 
moist. Mustard plasters are made by ...mixing flour or 
linseed meal with the mustard powder, and then moist- 
ening all well with hot water. The mixture should be 
well stirred till all becomes a thin paste, and shows no 
lumps or dry parts. When not stirred sufficiently before 
applying, a mustard plaster usually dries rapidly and 
fails to redden the skin. Such a plaster is of no use. It 
fails in the only power it has, and must be again moistened 
over the whole surface to do any good. 

The mustard plaster may be one-half mustard or only 
one-eighth mustard; usually, one-eighth to one-quarter is 
strong enough for children. When mixed and spread on 
muslin or cotton, the mixture should be wet enough to 
soak through the muslin cover and moisten the skin well or 
it will be useless. Dry mustard has no irritating effect, 
and a child might sleep in a bed made of it. 

Mustard must be mixed with water, not vinegar, to work 
properly. As soon as the skin shows a slight blush it 
should be removed from a child ; but on an adult it should 
remain till the skin is well reddened. The burn or blister 
made by mustard when applied too long is very painful. 

With good mustard well moistened, the skin will be- 
come red and painful in from five to ten minutes. It 



REMEDIES. 579 

should then be removed. If the skin is then dressed 
with oil, the smarting ceases but the good effects of the 
mustard are largely lost. 

No. 77. Peppek Plaster. 
This is made by sprinkling black pepper with a little 
red pepper or mustard, on thin slices of bacon, or a well- 
larded cloth, and binding it on continually. The pepper 
should be renewed each morning and evening till redness 
is produced on the skin. This is a popular dressing for 
sore throats and coughs. 

No. 78. Cotton Jacket. 
This is commonly used in bronchitis and pneumonia, 
instead of the old-fashioned poultice. A high fitting 
jacket is made of two layers of cotton, and a layer or two 
of cotton batting is placed between them. This is fas- 
tened snugly around the body, and over the shoulders to 
prevent it sliding down. Oiled silk or paraffine paper 
may be placed over the batting before covering it where 
a perspiring , effect is desired. This latter form will re~ 
quire frequent renewing. This makes a warm and light 
dressing, and is decidedly preferable to the flaxseed 
poultice in lung diseases. 

No. 79. Ginger Poultice. 
This is made by mixing powdered ginger with boiling 
water, sufficient to thoroughly moisten it, the same as a 
mustard poultice. It makes a pleasant, warm dressing, 
which does not irritate like mustard and is warmer than 
flaxseed meal. 

For External Applications— Ointments. 

No. 80. Zinc Ointment. — -Oxide of zinc, two drachms ; 
lanolin, five drachms; albolene, one drachm; salicylic acid, 



580 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

ten grains. This is an excellent dressing for abraded sur- 
faces, sore heads and faces, and eczematous surfaces. If 
continuously applied it will cure the worst attacks of 
eczema on infants, when the diet is reduced so as to pro- 
duce stools healthy in odor, color, and consistence. 

No. 81. Beeswax Ointment. — Benzoated lard, six 
ounces; yellow beeswax, one ounce; salicylic acid, twenty 
grains. Melt the wax in a tin cup, then add the lard. 
When all is melted remove from the fire and stir till cool, 
then add the salicylic acid and continue stirring until cold. 
This makes an excellent varnish to use on the face or 
hands when wind chafed, as it is not perceptible. It 
also is very valuable for wet or raw surfaces on infants or 
adults, as it does not dry in, and it sheds the moisture 
perfectly. Most excellent for burns or scalds. It pre- 
vents or cures a mild eczema. 

No. 82, Bingworm Ointment, No. 1. — Citrine oint- 
ment, one part; vaseline, seven parts. This should be 
well rubbed into the skin twice daily, or oftener, on ex- 
posed surfaces. It is useful also in itch. 

No. 83. Bingworm Ointment, No. 2. — Sulphur, one 
drachm; tar ointment, one drachm; benzoated lard, one 
ounce. - Bub in, three times daily, until well absorbed. 

No. 84. Malaria Ointment. — Quinine, one drachm; 
lard, two ounces. Bub well into the skin around the 
body, one teaspoonful night and morning. Do not bathe 
or change the undergarments every day. Always use 
plenty of soap when bathing. 

No. 85. Pile Ointment. — Morphine, five grains; tan- 
nin, one drachm; benzoated lard, two ounces. Apply as 
needed, two or three times daily, to relieve the pain and 
swelling. 

No. 86. Borig Acid and Zinc Ointment. — Boric acid, 



REMEDIES. 581 

one-half drachm; oxide of zinc, one drachm; lanolin, six 
drachms; albolene, one-half drachm. An excellent disin- 
fecting ointment for all sores or abrasions. 

Solutions and Mixtures. 

No. 87. Carbolized Oil.— Carbolic acid (pure), 
one-half drachm; fresh olive oil, two ounces. "Poison." 
Useful on foul surfaces. 

No. 88. Boric Acid Nipple Lotion. — Boric acid, 
one drachm; boiled water, four ounces. Used to bathe 
the nipples after each nursing for the first week or two, 
to prevent sores or to heal them at any time. 

No. 89. Tannic Acid and Glycerine Nipple Lotion. 
— Glycerite of tannic acid, one fluidounce; boiled water, 
one and one-half fluidounces. To be painted on the nip- 
ples after bathing with No. 88. 

-No. 90. Bismuth Nipple Ointment. — Subgallate of 
bismuth, one drachm; benzoated lard, one ounce. Apply 
this to the nipples after nursing each time. This is a 
soft, comfortable, and healing dressing. The nipples 
should be first bathed with Remedy No. 88 before apply- 
ing the ointment. No washing is needed before nursing, 
as the ointment is not poisonous. It will heal sore 
mouth if present in the baby. 

No. 91, Running Ear Lotion. — Sulphate of zinc, 
twenty grains; carbolic acid, tendrops; tincture of iodine, 
one-half drachm; glycerine, two ounces. Fill the ear 
once each day while the child is lying down. After fif- 
teen minutes he may rise and allow the medicine to run 
out. Always syringe first with warm water. Keep this 
lotion warm. If too thick to pour well, it should be 
thinned with water. 



582 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

No. 92. Foe Enlakged Glands. — Tincture of iodine, 
one-half ounce; glycerine, three ounces. Keep constantly 
applied over the swollen glands, and cover carefully 
with a cloth to avoid rubbing it off. This does not 
blister or smart, and should be continued till all swelling 
disappears. 

No. 93. Chilblain Mixtures, No. 1. — Collodion, one 
ounce; tincture of iodine, one drachm. Paint on the sore 
part once each day. Keep this mixture securely corked, 
as it evaporates rapidly. 

No. 2. — Tincture of iron, one ounce. Paint once or 
twice each week. This is a rapid and prompt cure in 
chilblains with unbroken skin. 

No. 94. Boric Acid Antiseptic Wash. — Boric acid, 
one-half ounce; boiled water, one pint. Used for wash- 

9 mk 

ing all sores, bruises, and abrasions, and for moistening 
dressings of all kinds. 

No. 95. Carbolic Acid Lotion. — Add one teaspoon- 
ful of carbolic acid to each pint of boiled water. Mark 
this "Poison." 

No. 95^. Saline Solution. — Common salt, one 
drachm; boiled water, one pint. Used commonly in catarrh 
and for burns and sores. 

No. 96. Corrosive Sublimate Antiseptic Lotion. — 
Dissolve one antiseptic tablet (corrosive sublimate) in 
one pint of boiling water. If marked " Poison" this 
may be kept indefinitely as a disinfecting wash or dressing 
for sores. It rusts all metals rapidly, and must be kept 
in a bottle. 

No. 97. Mouth Wash. — Borax, one-half drachm; 
tincture of myrrh, one-half fluidrachm; glycerine, one 
fluidrachm; boiled water enough to make a nuidounce. 
This must be applied very gently to the inside of the 



REMEDIES. 583 

mouth several times daily, in thrush or any form of sore 
mouth or gums. A camel's hair brush should be used 
for this purpose. 

No. 98. Eye Lotion. — Sulphate of zinc, two grains; 
boiled water, one fluidounce. Drop in the inner corner 
of the closed eye morning and evening. Then open the 
eye. 

No. 99. Astringent Gargle. — Tannic acid, one tea- 
spoonful; glycerine, four teaspoonf uls ; water, one tum- 
blerful. Use as a gargle after rinsing the throat with 
warm water. 

No. 100. Pepper and Soda Gargle. — Cayenne pep- 
per, a small pinch; baking soda, one teaspoonf ul; hot 
water, one cupful. Gargle well with this every three 
hours. This is very valuable in all sore throats, but 
too strong for young children. 

No. 101. Nose Bleed Lotion. — Tannic acid, two 
drachms; glycerine, two fluidrachms; water, two fluid- 
ounces. To be injected or snuffed up the nose in obsti- 
nate cases. 

No. 102. Alum Lotion. — Alum, four drachms; alco- 
hol, eight fluidounces; water, eight fluidounces. Used 
for excessive perspiration or threatened bed-sores. 

No. 103. Cooling Lotion. — Carbolic acid (pure), 
thirty grains; ether, two fluidrachms; alcohol, six fluid- 
ounces. Brush on inflamed or swollen parts and let dry. 
Mark "Poison," 

No, 104. Skin Lotion. — Compound tincture of ben- 
zoin, one and one-half fluidrachms; glycerine, one and 
one-half fluidrachms; rose water, three fluidounces. 
A useful application for tender skin, chapped hands 
and face. 

No. 105. Freckle and Complexion Lotion, No.l. — 



584 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

One antiseptic tablet (corrosive sublimate) ; water, two 
ounces. Apply well twice a day. This will remove 
moth and brown liver spots from the faces of women 
bearing children. 

No. 106. Freckle Lotion, No. 2.— Dilute acetic acid, 
one-half fluidounce; rose water, one-half fluidounce. 
Apply once each day. 

Powders. 

No. 107. Camphor Powder Compound. — Camphor, 
one drachm; oxide of zinc, one ounce; starch, one-half 
ounce. Rub into a fine powder. For dusting the skin. 

No. 108. Borio Acid and Zinc Powder. — Boric acid, 
one-half ounce; oxide of zinc, one ounce. Rub into a 
fine powder. For rough and scalded skin. 

No. 109. Perspiring Powder, Tannin and Zinc. 
— Tannin, one-half ounce; oxide of zinc, one-half ounce. 
Rub into a fine powder. Dust into the stockings for 
perspiring or scalded feet, or under the arms. 

No. 110. Bismuth and Zinc Powder. — Bismuth sub- 
nitrate, one ounce; oxide of zinc, one-half ounce. Rub 
into a fine powder. Dust on sore nipples, into cracks 
and folds of the skin, to heal or prevent soreness. 

Disinfectants. 

No. 111. Carbolic Acid. — Carbolic acid, six ounces; 
water, one gallon. Suitable for clothing, dishes, metals, 
and hands of nurses. Clothes should be soaked in it 
half a day and then boiled. Can be used on curtains 
and sheets spread over doors and windows. 

No. 112. Chloride of Lime. — Chloride of lime, six 
ounces; soft water, one gallon. Should be kept in the 
vessel to receive the urine and feces of contagious 



REMEDIES. 585 

patients. Let stand for several hours before empty- 
ing. 

No. 113. • Copperas. — Put a lump as big as a walnut 
in the chamber with half a pint of water to receive dis- 
charges of all kinds — feces, urine, expectoration, and 
Vomited matter from infectious and contagious patients. 

No. 114. Chlorinated Soda. — Solution of chlorinated 
soda, four fluidounces; water, ten ounces. Useful for 
hands and dishes, but not for silverware, as chlorine 
colors all silver black. 

No. 115. Disinfectant Bath. — Dilute No. Ill three 
times with water, or No. Ill four times. These can be 
used for final bathing of a child after scarlet fever or any 
contagious disease ; or for nurses when leaving such cases. 

No. 116. Corrosive Sublimate Solution. — Dissolve 
eight antiseptic tablets (corrosive sublimate) in a gallon 
of water. This can be used to disinfect floors, wood- 
work, rubber and leathers, but not metal parts. 

No. 117. Disinfecting Vapor. — Pure carbolic acid, 
one ounce; oil of eucalyptus, one fluidounce; turpentine 
spirits, four fluidounces. One or two tablespoonfuls put 
in hot water and kept simmering constantly. Must 
avoid coming near the fire. Is useful in the room of the 
diphtheritic or patient with foul odors. 

No. 118. Dry Disinfectants.— Chloride of lime and 
copperas may be used freely in closets and cesspools. 

Miscellaneous. 

No. 119. Massage. — This is professional work, 
though many presume to practice it who do not even 
understand its principles. If needed on a child for any 
serious trouble, an experienced hand should perform 
it. Mothers should also remember that they can do 



586 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 



a great deal in colic, sore back and strained limbs by 
steadily rubbing and heating the painful parts. Consti- 
pation will often yield to rubbing and kneading of the 
abdomen. Gas in the bowels frequently causes pain and 
is expelled by rubbing and heating. This should be 
done with the bare hand and some sweet oil. 

No. 120. Different Measures and Their Sizes. — 
The relative values of drops, teaspoons, fluidrachms, 
and fluidounces are shown in the following table: 

Physicians specify minim instead of drop in writing 
prescriptions, because it is a standard size, and the grad- 
uate measure used by the druggist is 
a minim, not a drop, measure. This 
makes the compounding of prescrip- 
tions perfectly accurate and correct, 
no matter what drug is ordered. 

Where directions are given "in 
drops, a knowledge of the difference 
in the sizes of drops is requisite. A 
drop of water and a minim of water 
are the same, but it requires two 
drops of alcohol or spirits to equal 
one drop of water when both fall 
from the same dropper. A drop of 
glycerine or syrup would be much 
larger than one of water, on account 
of its extra density and adhesive- 
ness. Even drops of water vary in 
size. A drop of distilled or well- 
boiled water, from which all lime 
salts have been precipitated, is much 
lighter, will adhere to the dropper 
longer, and consequently is much larger than a drop 




Figure 59. Minim 
Graduate Measure. 



REMEDIES. 



587 




Figure 60. Dropper for medicines. 



loaded with salts. The same rule applies to pure alcohol 
or spirits, and those loaded with medicines, as are tinc- 
tures. 

Again, drops vary in size according to the size and 
shape of the point from which they fall ; as for in- 
stance, a drop from the point of a pin would be much 
smaller than one from the end of a finger. 

To be exact in this matter, a minim graduate (Figure 
59), marked and numbered on the side, should be used. 
This shows the number of minims in a drachm, or any sec- 
tion of a drachm. Where such a measure is not at hand, a 
dropper (Figure 60) 
tested by the drug- 
gist to show that it 
will measure sixty to 
sixty - five drops of 

spring or river water in a drachm minim measure, is all 
that is requisite. 

Where a mother has neither of these measures, she can 
meet the difficulty and be practically safe and correct by 
dropping from the bottle containing the medicine. If 
this has to be often repeated, the cork should be grooved 
slightly on two opposite sides, as in Figure 61. When the 
cork is loosened in the neck of the bottle, it 
allows air to enter on the top groove and 
medicine to flow out through the lower 
one as the bottle is turned over. The 
size of the grooves controls the rapidity 
of the dropping. 

Where only an occasional dropping 
is required, the ordinary cork should be 
withdrawn and held against the lower lip 
of the bottle and a little lower, as in Figure 62. The 




Figure 61. 
Grooved Cork for 
dropping medi- 
cines slowly. 



588 



FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 




Showing how to drop 
medicine. 



drops will then fall from the lower edge of the cork just 
as rapidly as you desire, 
when you raise the bottle. 
Safety is secured in all 
cases by giving only small 
doses of strong medicines 
and repeating them in an 

hour until the desired effect 

is produced. As all medi- Figure 62 

cines are given for an effect, 

and as an hour is sufficient to show the effect of the 

last dose of soothing or poisonous medicine, it is safe 

then to repeat a full or half dose, as the condition of the 

child indicates. 

Teaspoons and tablespoons are commonly used for 
measuring larger doses. They vary greatly in size, and 
also vary greatly in different hands, according to the 
fullness of the spoon. The following table shows the 
size of the different measures used in giving medicines : 
One drop of water=l minim of water or 2 drops of spirits or tinctures. 
One after-dinner coffee spoonful=30 minims, 30 drops of spring water, half a 

teaspoonful, or half a fluidrachm (fl. 3 ss). 
One teaspoonful=60 minims, 60 drops of water, or 1 fluidrachm (fl. 3 i). 
Two teaspoonfuls=l dessertspoonful or 2 fluidrachms (fl. 3 ii). 

Four teaspoonfuls=l tablespoonful or l / 2 fluidounce (fl. § ss). 

Two tablespoonfuls=d fluidounce (fl. 1 i). 

Four tablespoonfuls=a wineglass or 2 fluidounces. 

One tumblerf ul= %. pint or 8 fluidounces. 

Where exact measures of these larger 
quantities are required, a druggist's four- 
ounce graduated measure (Figure 63) should 
be used. 

Figure. 63. Four- No. 121. DOSE LlST FOR CHILDREN ONE 
ounce Graduated xr ~ k „, -„ TTT 

Measure. 1EAR OLD OR TWENTY POUNDS IN WEIGHT. — 

As children usually treble their weight during the first 




REMEDIES. 589 

year, the child of six to eight pounds at birth weighs about 
twenty to twenty -two pounds when a year old. Mothers 
may be compelled at times to prescribe remedies when they 
cannot reach their physician. In such cases, by adjusting 
the dose by the weight of the infant and repeating once 
an hour or two hours, when needed, they can tide 
over many difficulties until medical help is obtained. The 
following doses are fixed for a child of twenty pounds. 

Mothers should never wake a child to give it medicine, 
unless a physician orders it done. Except in head 
affections, sleeping is generally a desirable condition. 

Dose for a Twenty-Pound Baby. 

Acetanilid, gr., % to %.. Every two hours while feverish. 
Aconite, tincture, m., % to %. Every hour while feverish. 
Ammonia, aromatic spirits of, m., 2 to 5. Every half hour for weakness. 
Antimony, wine of, m., 2 to 5. Every half hour till vomiting. 
Antipyrin, gr., % to %. Every two hours for fever. 
Bismuth subnitrate, grs., 1 to 5. Every two hours for diarrhea. 
Bismuth subgallate, grs., 1 to 4. Every two hours for slimy stools. 
Brandy. (See Stimulants.) 

Bromide of potash or soda, grs., 1 to 4. Every hour for nervousness or convul- 
sions. 
Calomel, gr., £$ to A- Every hour for four doses, for foul stomach and stools. 
Cascara cordial, m., 4 to 1.0. Every three hours for constipation. 
Castor oil, fl. 3 , 1 to IK- Every six hours for constipation. 
Cinnamon water, fl. 3 , Yz to 1. Every hour for colic or vomiting. 
Chalk mixture, fl. 3 , % to 1. Every two hours for diarrhea. 
Chloral, grs., 1 to 2. Every two hours to produce sleep. 
Chlorate of potash, gr., 1. Every two hours for sore throat. 
Citrate of magnesia, grs., 5 to 15. Every two hours for constipation. 
Codliver oil, fl. 3 , % to Yz. Three times daily. 

Dover's powder, gr., l /i to Yz. Every two hours for cough, croup, and colds. 
Epsom salts, grs., 5 to 10. Every five hours for constipation. 
Fowler's solution of arsenic, m., Yz to 1. Three times daily as a tonic. 
Gin.. (See Stimulants.) 

Ginger, tincture, m., 1 to 4. Every two hours for colic and diarrhea. 
Hive syrup, (See Squills, compound syrup of.) 
Iron, tincture, m., 1 to 3. Three times daily in syrup as a tonic. 



590 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

Ipecachuana, syrup or wine of, m., 5 to 10. Every half hour for croup or cough. 

Laudanum, m., X to 1. Every hour for pain or diarrhea. 

Liquorice powder, grs., 2 to 4. Every three hours till bowels move. 

Magnesia carbonate, grs., 5 to 20. Every three hours till bowels move. 

Malt extract, m., 10 to 20. After each meal to digest starch. 

Manna, grs., 5 to 10. Every four hours till the bowels move. 

Nitre, sweet spirits of, m., 5 to 8. Every three hours while awake for scanty 

urine. 
Olive oil, fl. 3 , V& to 2. Every six hours till bowels move. 
Paregoric, m., 3 to 5. Every hour, if needed, for pain or diarrhea. 
Peppermint water, fl. 3 , l A to 1. Every hour for colic and gassy stomach. 
Pepsin, gr., %. to %.. After each meal for indigestion. 
Quinine, gr., % to %. Every two hours, while awake, for malaria. 
Rhubarb, syrup of, fl. 3 , % to %. Every four hours till bowels move. 
Salicylate of soda, grs., l A to IK- Every two hours for rheumatism. 
Senna syrup, m., 10 to 20. Every four hours till bowels move. 
Soda bicarbonate, grs., 1 to 2. After each meal for sour stomach. 
Squills, compound syrup, m., 1 to 5. Every two hours for cough and colds. 
Stimulants — Brandy, m., 5 to 30. Every hour or two in sugar water. 

Gin, m., 5 to 20. Every hour or two in sugar water. 

Port wine, m., 5 to 40. Every hour or two in sugar water. 

Sherry, m., 5 to 40. Every hour or two in sugar water. ? 

Whisky, m., 5 to 35. Every hour or two in sugar water. 
Tannic acid, grs. % to 2. Every two hours for diarrhea. 
Whisky. (See Stimulants.) 
Wine. (See Stimulants.) 

No. 122. Proportionate Dosage. — Dosage in medi- 
cine is of great importance. As many medicines affect 
children differently from adults, greater care must be 
exercised in using some of them, and less care in using 
others, than is required in treating adults. All sleeping 
drugs must be used carefully and sparingly in children, 
as they are very susceptible to their effects, while they 
are not amenable to the poisonous effects of mercurials. 
As in feeding, so in medicines; the size of the child regu- 
lates the amount of medicine needed to produce a result. 
If the full dose of a drug for an adult weighing two 
hundred pounds is one teaspoonf ul or sixty minims, . 
A child weighing 10 pounds would require gV or 3 minims. 



REMEDIES. 591 

A child weighing 15 pounds would require T V or 4K minims. 
A child weighing 20 pounds would require T V or 6 minims. 
A child weighing 25 pounds would require l /% or 7K minims. 
A child weighing 50 pounds would require % or 15 minims. 

No. 123. Medicine Closet. — Many mothers feel the 
necessity for having a few medicines, plasters, and dress- 
ings ready to use in cases of emergency, such as accidents, 
poisoning, and sudden sickness. Where a mother can 
give some time and thought to the selection of these 
remedies, she will be best prepared for emergencies, as 
the study in connection with selecting them will be a 
valuable lesson to her, and will impress their utility and 
use so firmly and clearly on her mind as to enable her to 
take prompt action when needed. 

List of Suitable Articles for Medicine Closet. 

External Medicines and Drugs. — Alcohol, ammonia 
water, turpentine, chloroform liniment, soap liniment, 
extract of hammamelis, tincture of iodine, boric acid, 
flaxseed meal, vaseline, benzoated lard, zinc ointment. 

Foe Poisoning. — Vinegar, tannic acid, epsom salts, 
sulphate of copper, in three-grain powders, for poisoning 
by matches; JeauneVs antidote. 

Internal Medicines. — Whisky, gin, sherry wine, 
olive oil, glycerine, magnesia, castor oil, syrup of rhubarb, 
baking soda, sweet spirits of nitre, essence of pepper- 
mint, syrup of ipecac, hive syrup, paregoric, laudanum, 
quinine and quinine pills, one and two grain in size; 
soda mint, aromatic spirits of ammonia. 

Appliances. — Four-ounce glass graduate, one-drachm 
minim graduate, a correct dropper, hard rubber syringe, 
four-ounce size; camel's-hair brushes, absorbent cotton, 
roller bandages, one and two inches wide and three to 
five yards long; surgeon's gauze, lint, old muslin and 



592 FEEDING AND NURSING THE BABY. 

linen, court plaster, rubber adhesive plaster, paraffin 
paper. 

Many articles may be added to the above list and some 
of these may be omitted; but in a well-equipped 
medicine closet, all are requisite. All names in italics in 
the above list are poisons, and should be specially marked 
by a chain or heavy cord tied around the neck of the 
container and left hanging down the side. This will 
warn those using them of their contents, even when 
handled in the dark. 



INDEX. 



Abdomen 12 

Applications for the 374 

Bandage for 299 

Care of the 375 

Causes of Large .215 

Enlargement of 13 

Growth of .. 12 

Inflammation of the.. ..374, 375 

Specimens of Large 215 

Abdominal Bandage 299 

Benefits of 300 

Two Objects of 299 

Abscess 538 

Remedies for 539 

What is an 538 

Accidents and Emergen- 
cies 389-417 

Adenoids (See Enlarged Tonsils) 

Albumen Mixtures 560 

Albumen Water 560 

Alum Lotion 583 

Anodynes 361 

How and When to Use 361 

Antiseptic Poultice! 576 

Antitoxine 364 

How and When to Use, 364,434 

The Fear of 418 

Applications 284 

Cold 284,286,367 

How to Make and Use .... 285 

Use of a Basin for 286 

Use of the Cold Pack 288 

UseofHot 361,362 

Use of Meal Bags as 362 

Use of Mustard 363 

Areola . 13 

Darkening of 13 

Armamentaria. 22 

Nursery \ . 22 

Arrowroot Water 560 

Astringent Gargle 583 

Auto-Intoxication 455 

Results of 456 

What is 455 



B PAGE. 

Babcock Separator 87 

Baby. (See Infant.) 

Barley 138 

Starch Water 559 

Basin 23 

b or Applications 486 

Sponge 23 

Bath 278 

Bed 287 

Cold Pack 288 

Cooling .291 

Disinfectant 585 

Douche or Spray 289 

Fear of the 281 

Foot 24 

Head 286 

Hot vs. Cold 282 

How to Use • 281 

Ice 287 

Infants' 24 

In Sickness 282 

In Hot Room 25 

Medicated 290 

Milk, Whisky and Sulphur,291 

Mustard 290 

Need for Hot Applications 

after a 287 

Of the Infant 278 

Plunge 291 

Portable 26 

Repetitions of the 279, 280 

Rubbing in a 284, 286, 287 

Steam 289 

Temperature of the, 24, 279, 

280 282 

Testing the Water for 281 

Varieties in 284 

Water for 283 

Bed Wetting 521 

Remedies for 572 

Stubborn Cases of 522 

Treatment for 522 

Beds ...300 

Change Position of the 302 



593 



594 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Beds, Cramped or Short 303 

For Different Seasons 301 

For Injured Child 302 

For Infants ..300,301 

For Older Child........... 301 

Wetting the 521 

Beef Broth 565 

Beef Juices 125-564 

As Foods 125 

Cold Water Process 566 

Expressed 564 

Teas from 563 

With Rice or Barley 133 

Beef Tea 563 

Beef Tea(Twenty Minute) 564 

Beeswax Ointment 580 

Bicarbonate of Soda 74 

Use of 74 

Birth Marks 489 

Bismuth and Zinc Powder. . .584 

Bismuth Nipple Lotion 581 

Bites.... 391 

From Animals .392 

From Insects 391 

From Snakes 392 

Bladder 240 

Blisters 362 

How Produced 362 

In Scalds and Burns 399 

Produced by Mustard 363 

Blood 286 

The Main Duty of the 286 

Tonic for 573 

Boils 537 

Causes of 537 

Remedies for 538 

Boric Acid Antiseptic Wash. 582 
Boric Acid and Zinc Oint- 
ment 580 

Boric Acid and Zinc Pow- 
der 584 

Boric Acid Nipple Lotion 581 

Bowel 244,367, 447 

Care of the 367 

Duties of the Small 244 

Duties of the Large 245 

Imperfect Development of 

the 471 

Necessity for Emptying 

the 354 

Prolapse of the 523 

The Imperforate 523 



PAGE. 

Brain .238 

Concussion of the 407 

Bran Poultice 575 

Bread and Milk Poultice 575 

Bread and Water Poultice . . .575 

Breast Pump 23 

Breasts 13 

During Sickness 37 

Inflammation of the 525 

Nurse Regularly 38 

Pain, Hardening and En- 
largement of 13 

Pump for 23 

Breath 211 

Foul 380 

Holding the 536 

Odor of 211 

Of the Infant 211 

Bronchitis. (See Pneumonia.) 

Broths 124,126,134 

Beef 134 

Fresh 127 

Stools from 129 

Veal ...135 

Bruises 393 

Use of Cold Applications 

on , 394 

Burns and Scalds 398 

Blisters and Loose Skin in. 400 

Care of 398 

Caused by Lye or Alkalies. 400 

Dressing for 399 

Butter 136 

Amount to Feed 136 

How to Feed 136 

O 

Cakes 139 

Kind and Amount to Feed 

of 139 

Camphor Powder Compound, 584 
Canker. (See Sore Mouth.) 

Carbolic Acid 584 

Carbolic Acid Lotion 582 

Carbolized Oil 581 

Casein 93 

Effects of Excess of. 346 

Overfeeding of . . . . 93 

Removing, from Milk 107 

Castor Oil 353 

Use of, in Diarrhea .... 448 

When and How to Use 353 



INDEX. 



595 



PAGE. 

Cathartics 461 

Irritate the Bowel 461 

Results of the Constant 

Use of 461 

Catarrh of the Stomach. (See 
Indigestion.) 

Cereals 130,202,559 

Constituents of 130 

Cooking of 138 

Cereal or Starch Waters 559 

Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. 
(See Meningitis.) 

Chafing 491 

Chalk and Bismuth Mixture.. 569 

Charcoal Poultice 575 

Chicken. • (See Meat.) 

Chicken-pox 421 

Chilblains 485 

Appearance of 485 

Remedies for 486,582 

Child Bed Fever 11 

Causes of 11 

Children. (See Infant.) 

Chloride of Lime 584 

Chlorinated Soda 585 

Circumcision 328 

Necessity for 328,533 

Clothing 291 

Amount Necessary or 

Needed 293,294,295,297 

Bed 298 

Color of 293 

Fibers of Different 292 

For Summer 297 

For Winter 297 

Of the Infant 291, 297, 299 

Necessity for Changes of. ..299 
Two Features to Be Con- 
sidered in 292 

Cold, Cough, and Fever 

Mixture , 571 

Cold, Cough, and Fever 

Powders 571 

Cold and Cough Mixture 571 

Cold in the Head. (See Coryza.) 

Cold Pack 288 

How and When to Use a . .288 
Cold Sores. (See Fever Blis- 
ters.) 

Colic 451 

Causes of 452 

In Hand-Fed Babies 452 



PAGE. 

Colic, In Nursing Babies 451 

Green Stools in 453 

Help for 453 

Temporary Relief for 452 

Too Much Food Causes. . .453 

Colostrum, or First Milk 55 

Condensed Milk 77 

One Result of 78 

Confinement 14, 15 

Commencement of 15 

False Pains in 16 

Irregular Time of 15 

Prolonged Variations in ... . 15 

Constipation 124 

Causes of, 196,245,458,466, 

469. 470 

Chronic Indigestion, Causes,478 
Decrease the Casein for . . .466 

Greatest Help for 196, 465 

Increase the Fats in ..... . .465 

Imperfect Development of 

the Bowel Causes .471 

Insufficient Food Causes. . .472 
In the Newly-Born Baby. . .458 

In Hand-Fed Children 475 

Most Suitable Fats to Use 

for 467 

Needing Physician 196 

Oatmeal in 124 

Obstinate 196 

Temporary Treatment of.. 474 
Unsuitable Food Causes... 464 

Use of Laxatives in 356 

Use of Cream and Butter in . 467 
When -to Give Medicines 

for 475 

Convulsions 414 

Causes of 414,416 

Injection for 572 

Mixture to Prevent 572 

Cooling Lotion 583 

Copperas 585 

Coryza 544 

Remedies for 544 

What is 544 

Corrosive Sublimate Solution. 585 
Corrosive Sublimate Antiseptic 

Lotion 582 

Cotton Jacket 579 

Cotton Poultice 576 

Coughs 370 

Causes of 370 



596 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Coughs, Danger of. 370 

Mixtures for 571 

Cow 67 

Care of 67 

Feeding and Testing of. .67, 69 

Healthy Milk of 69 

Milk of 132 

Stabling and Man for 70 

Cow's Milk 64,67,132 

Bacteria in 71 

Care of 70 

Condensed 77 

Constituents of 132 

Diluted 262,309 

Effects of 132 

Excess of Proteids in. . . .64, 66 

Feeding Humanized 197 

How to Produce Healthy.. 69 

In Foods 132 

Jersey 67 

Making Perfect 67 

Only Food Containing all 
the Elements of Human 

Milk 141, 214,225 

Results of Cooking 76 

Sterilizing and Pasteuriz- 
ing 71 

Sugar in . 64, 91 

Tubercle in 71 

Using Diluted 262 

Where and How to Buy 

Pure 68 

Cow-pox. (See Vaccination.) 
Cracks. (See Chafing.) 

Cream 87 

Amount to Feed 88, 89 

As a Food 173 

Buying and Making 87 

Centrifugal 88 

Diluting of 87, 119 

Gravity 88 

How to Feed 136 

In Foods 131 

Ingredients in 87 

Most Reliable Basis 98 

Proteids in 90 

Result of Fat in 176 

Result of Proteid in 176 

Result of Sugar in 176 

Standard Strength of 88 

To Obtain Good 96 

Using Diluted 262 



PAGE. 

Cream and Milk Mixtures, 

87, 104,559 

Different Strengths of 104 

Increasing Strengths 105 

Cream and Rice Mixture 562 

Cream, Whey, and Rice Mix- 
ture 563 

Croup 548 

Absolute Necessity for a 

Physician to Treat. 550 

Catarrhal 548 

False Membrane. 549 

Mixture for 571 

Spasmodic 549 

D 

Deformities , 21 , 496, 499 

Causes of 496 

Of the Head 21 

The Source of Some 449 

Development 238 

Cause of Unhealthy 322 

Normal 238 

Diarrhea 124 

Absolute Rest Needed in... 450 
Applications and Drink's in. 450 

Causes of 469,470 

Regulation of the Diet in. .448 

The Causes of 447 

Use of Castor Oil in 448 

Use of Rice in 124 

Variety in theDischargesof,448 
What Constitutes 446 

Diet,DietaryandDieting,154, 195 

Adjusting of 241 

All the Necessary Elements 

in 262 

Change in Amount or Qual- 
ity of "..199 

Diseases Caused by Im- 
proper 222 

Economy of a Correct 230 

Effects of a Change in 215 

Errors in 235 

First Year's 195,196 

Fixed Rules for 208 

Fixing Summer 252 

For Nursing Mother. 154 

General Rules for 195 

How to Correct Errors in. .231 
Information Needed for In- 
fant's 224,262 



INDEX. 



597 



PAGE. 

Diet, Limit to Variety in 223 

Necessity for a Change of.. 206 
Needs Most Careful Atten- 
tion 558 

Of the Weaned Infant 147 

Reducing the 201 

The Infant's 195,198,225 

The Mixed 154 

What is a Proper 559 

When to Increase the 261 

Dietetics 32 

In Spanish War 33 

In School 32 

Resultsof Neglecting Errors 
in 470 

Different Measures and Their 
Sizes 586-589 

Digestion 43,237 

Assistants for, 106, 157, 358, 570 

Best 43 

Perfection in 44, 148 

Digestive Assistants, 157, 358, 570 

For Delicate Children 157 

Necessity for 359 

Three Cases Requiring . . . 360 

DigestiveDisturbances. ..438-481 

Digestive Organs 242 

Condition of, Controls the 

Diet 269 

Defective 265 

Duties of Different. . . .242, 243 

Necessity of Rest for 343 

What are the 243 

Digestive Stimulants 45 

Necessity for 45 

Diphtheria 433 

Using Antitoxin for 434 

Disinfectant 585 

Bath 585 

Dry 585 

Disinfecting Vapor 585 

Dislocations and Fractures, 
394, 395 

Dressings 399 

The Cleanest 399 

The Comfortable 399 

Diseased Bones 506 

Cause of Hunchback 506 

In the Ear.. 540 

Treatment in 506 



PAGE. 

Dose List for Infants One 
Year Old, or Twenty 
Pounds in Weight 588 

Dosing 350,352 

Continual 350 

Object of ... 352 

Proportionate 590 

Drinks 47 

Successful in Nursing 47 

Drinking Glass 314 

How to Use 314 

Dropper for Medicines 587 

Dropsy 519 

Meaning of 519 

Treatment for 519 

Drowning" 405 

How to Resuscitate the, . . .405 

Duck. (See Meat.) 

Dwarfs and Small Sized Peo- 
ple 324 

Causes of 324 

Dyspepsia. (See Indigestion.) 

E 

Ears 400 

Care of When Out 540 

Diseased Bones in the 540 

Protruding 498 

Remedies and Lotions for 

the 581 

Removing Foreign Bodies 

from the 400 

What Causes Aching of the,539 

Earache 539 

Eczema 482 

Causes of 482,483 

Characteristics of 483 

Liability for a Return of. . .484 

The Eruptions in 483 

Treatment for 484 

Use of Water in 482 

Use of the Mask in 485 

Eggs 135 

Cooking of 135 

Proper Time to Feed 135 

Egg and Barley Water 560 

Elimination 349 

What is.... 349 

Emetics 571 

Enemas 354 

Different Kinds of 354 

How and When to Use, 354, 356 



598 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Enemas, How to Prepare the .357 

Medicated 356 

Peptonized Egg . 569 

The Quantity for an 355 

Epilepsy. (See Convulsions.) 

Erysipelas 518 

Treatment of 518 

What is 518 

Evaporation 296 

For the Infant 296 

In Hot Weather 296 

Eyes..... 367 

Affections of the 367, 368 

Care of the Sore 367 

Lotions for Sore 583 

Removing Foreign Bodies 
from the : 403 

P 
Fat 237 

Infants' Need of ....237 

Feeding 162,207 

Amount for Successful, 162, 241 
Avoid Fixed Rules in. .... . 212 

Combined with Nursing... .171 

Correct Rules for 198 

Correct Number of 162 

Difficulties of Hand. . . 168, 210 
Errors in Frequency of . . . .198 

Improper 351 

Irregular or Frequent 198 

Necessities in Hand 210 

Nursing and 172 

Obstacles to Proper ,.229 

Of Wealthy Infants .207 

Rapid 167 

Regular 173 

Results of Bottle 168 

Results of Hand 169 

Rules for Artificial 162 

Slow 167 

Specimens of Difficult . ..162 

Successful 337 

Supplemental 257 

Too Much. 199,201 

Variations in 163 

Feeding Schedule 197 

Of Different Foods 197 

Of Different Amounts 197 

Of Different Ages 197 

Use of 197 

Fever Blisters 489 



PAGE. 

Fever Mixtures 570 

Fevers 511-516 

Bathing in 512 

Causes of 512 

Coughs in 513 

In Inflammatory Diseases.. 512 

Remedies for 570 

Treatment for 513 

Fish ...136 

Cooking of 136 

Flaxseed Poultice 574 

Flaxseed Tea , ... 561 

Flour Ball 563 

Foods 45,131 

After Weaning 129 

Amount to Feed, 99, 101, 102, 

159, 163 

Amount Governed by 

' Weight 166 

Animal 81 

Artificial 173 

Baked 122 

Best Development by One. 214 

Change Gradually 210 

Changes in .258 

Composition of 141, 147 

Correct 96 

Cow's Milk in 132 

Cream in 131 

Defects in 147 

Difference in Home-made 

and Patent 308 

Diluted 115,147,205,257 

Easily Digested 81 

Effects of Patent 145 

Exact Measures 170 

Exact Time for Increasing 

of Ill 

Extractives and Salts in. . .154 

Feeding Artificial 65 

For Delicate Infants 562 

For Different Ages, 98, 99, 

109, 110 

For First Six Months 173 

Formulas for 158,159, 160 

For Nursing Infants 171 

Fresh Daily 120 

Home-made 118, 128 

Increasing Milk Secretion.. 46 

Indulgence in 45 

Infants' 53, 131 

Infants' Ideal. 80 



INDEX. 



599 



PAGE. 

Foods, Lacking Necessary 

i* Elements 323 

Lactated 143 

Limit to Variety in 223 

Malted 120 

Measuring of Liquid 169 

Milk in 118 

Milk 562 

Mixing Infants' 95 

Most Invigorating 134 

Nature's Plan in 116, 143 

Necessity for Variation in, 245 
Nitrogenous. (See Nitro- 
genous Foods.) 

Not Improved by Age 142 

Only Safe Artificial 334 

Order of Precedence in 112 

Overfeeding of 1 14 

Parts of 157 

Patent or Proprietary. (See 

Patent Foods ) 
Preparing and Keeping of 

First 98, 102, 121 

Predigested 105 

Proof of Successful 261 

Proper Proportions in . .95, 118 
Proper Food for Infants, 

144,161,348 

Quantity and Quality of.. . .319 

Quality of 175 

Results of Cooked 85 

Results of Insufficient 472 

Results of Unsuitable, 265, 469 
Rules Governing Change 

in 209 

Starchy,81,118,121,130,137, 

139,143 

Substitute Foods 565 

Suitable 157,174 

Supplied by Nature 54 

To Avoid 46 

True Guide for Selecting. .159 

Unsuccessful 118 

Unsuitable 444 

Unreliable 135 

Variety Required in.208,209,245 
Weight of Infant Governs 

the Amount of. 197 

When to Change, 199, 200, 

261, 262 

Food Formulas 158, 159, 160 

Beef Tea in 160 



PAGE. 

Food, Beef Juice in , . . 160 

Oatmeal Water in 160 

Rice Water in 160 

Fontanels 21 

In Rickety Children 21 

Swelled 22 

Foul or Sour Stomach 
Powders 570 

Four Ounce Graduated Meas- 
ure 588 

Freckles 492 

Lotions for 583 

Frostbite , 486 

Fruits 140 

Acids in 153 

Amount to Feed 140 

Density of 153 

Kind to Avoid .141 

Most Digestible 141, 153 

Most Indigestible 153 

Only Safe Kind to Feed 

Infants 140 

Prevent Scorbutus 154 

Sugar in 154 

Sweetness of 153 

Unripe 154 

When to Feed 140 

Why Valuable 140 

Furuncles-. (See Boils.) 

a 

Gargles 572 

Astringent 583 

Pepper and Soda 583 

Sore Throat 572 

Gelatine Water 561 

General Diseases and De- 
rangements 500-557 

German Measles 420 

Ginger Poultice 579 

Glands 509 

Enlaiged 509 

Lotion for Enlarged. .... .582 

Remedies for 510, 582 

Tubercular 510 

Gluten 123 

Grooved Cork for Dropping 

Medicines Slowly 587 

Growing Pains 373, 507 

Character of 507 

In an Infant 372 

Importance of 507 



600 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Gum Arabic Water 561 

Gum Waters , , 561 

H 

Habits and Thoughts 212 

Ingrained 212 

Nervous 534 

Haemorrhoids 7 

Ointment for 580 

Hands and Feet 498 

Deformed 498 

Head 19,299 

Affections of the 365 

Bones of the 21 

Cold in the 544 

Deformity of the 20 

Sore 494 

The Infant's 299 

Headache 547 

Causes of 547 

Remedies for 547 

Heart 372 

Care of the .372 

Diseases of the 372 

Early Symptoms of Disease 
of the 373 

Heart Failure 372 

Explanation of 372 

Symptoms of 373 

What is 375 

Height 239 

High Summer Mortality 454 

Cause of 454 

In Hand-Fed Children 455 

Statistics Regarding 454 

Hip Joint Disease. (See Dis- 
eased Bones.) 

Hives 490 

Hop Poultice 575 

Human Milk 51 

Digestion of 159 

Failure of 159 

Requisites for Good.. 51 

Substitutes for 159 

I 

Imperforate Bowel 523 

Inanition Fever 513 

Causes of 513 

Treatment for 514 

Indigestion 456 



PAGE. 

Indigestion, Causes Constipa- 
tion or Diarrhea 469 

Cause and Cure for Chronic, 478 

Necessity for Rest in 457 

Results of. 457 

What is 457 

Infant 18 

Abdomen of 373, 575 

Abdominal Bandage for 299 

Age of 269 

Always Examine Throat of 322 

Amount to Feed an 241 

Amount of Clothing Needed 

by an 291,295,297 

Amount of Sugar for 146 

Appearance of Newly Born, 18 
Applications for.. 284, 285, 

288,366, 367 

Average Gain in Weight 

of 331 

Bad Smelling 277, 278 

Bathing of the. 278, 279, 284, 287 

Bed for 300 

Best Guide in Feeding an. .332 

Best Protection for an 288 

Bladder of -.240 

Bottles and Nipples for a 

Nursing 108,364 

Bowels of the 367 

Brain of the 238 

Breath of the 211 

Bronchial Tubes of the 369 

Care of the .....257,388 

Castor Oil for 353 

Changes in Weight Denote 

Sickness in an 331 

Clothing for the. (See Cloth- 
ing). 
Condition of the Food of an, 227 

Constipation in an 196 

Continual Dosing of the... .350 

Correct Food for ..94, 145 

Correct Weight at Different 

Ages .166 

Cow's Milk for 309 

Cream for 89 

Cross and Colicky. 265, 267, 316 

Cross, Uneasy Boy 327 

Demands Change in its 

Food 208 

Development of the... 232, 
234, 238 



INDEX. 



601 



PAGE. 

Infant, Development of the 

Nursed 213 

Development of the Hand- 
Fed 213 

Developmental Marks on 

the 228 

Dietaryofthe. (SeeDietary.) 
Difference in Price of the 

Best and the Worst 305 

Digestion of the 65 

Digestive Assistants for the . 359 
Diseases of the Throat of 

the 368 

Diseases of the Head of 

the 365 

Diseases of the Eye of the. 367 
Diseases of the Lungs of 

the , 369 

Dose List for ...588 

Drinking Glass for 314 

Effects of Too Rapid Feed- 
ing of the 167 

Effects of Condensed Milk 

on 214 

Elimination in an 349 

Errors in Feeding an 230 

Exposure in Open Air 

Necessary for an 295 

Exact Measures for Food 

of 171 

Eyebrows and Lashes of the, 19 

Eyes of the 367,368 

Facts about the 311 

Feeding of the 47, 273, 333 

First Food of the. 53, 55, 98, 102 

First Nursing of the 35 

Food of Delicate. .102, 166, 562 
Food for Different Ages.. . . 

109, 110 

Fruits for '....140 

Greatest Cause of the Death 

of 235 

Green Stools of the 39 

Growing Pains in an 373 

Growth and Weight of the. 312 

Hair of the 19 

Hand-Fed ....113,167,258, 

274, 275, 306, 443 

Head of the. ... 19, 299, 365, 367 

Healthy and Delicate 97 

Healthy, Cross 266 

Heart of the 372 



PAGE. 

Infant, How to Detect an 
Overfed 201 

How to Avoid Deformities 

in 302 

How to Reduce the Food 

of an 204 

How to Secure the Strong 

and Happy 308 

Immature Condition of the 

Newly Born 232 

Indigestion in the 59, 210 

Information Needed for the 

Diet of an 224,226 

Inherited Weakness in an. .103 

Kidneys of the 240 

Length of Time to Nurse 

an 260,263,324 

Liver of the 240 

Lungs of the 369 

Massage for the 585 

Medical Literature About 

the 328 

Most Successful 258 

Must Have the Best of Care 

315, 345,498 

Must Have Free Evapo- 
ration 296 

Must Have Changes in 

Clothing 298 

Must be Regularly Weighed 

and Measured. ..259, 276, 332 
Must be Familiar with the 

Physician 340 

Must be Protected from 

Wind and Sun 296,370 

Nature's Demands for 143 

Necessity for Heat for an. .338 
Necessity for Weaning an. .261 

Needing Circumcision 327 

Needing Change in Food. . 

61,199,206 

Needing a Physician 202 

Needs Plenty of Rest 343 

Needs Plenty of Room 343 

Needs Plenty of Sleep 344 

Needs Weaning 59 

Night Clothes for the 298 

Nutrition of the 235 

Obstacles to Proper Feed- 
ing of an 229 

Of Wealthy Parents 207 

On Milk Diet 198 



G02 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Infant, One Cause of Sickness 

in the 323 

Only Proof of Good Diges- 
tion in the 197 

Only Proof of a Safe . . 306, 334 
Order of Precedence in 

Food of an 112 

Order of Teething in an. . ..246 

Overdosing of the 351 

Overfed on Sugar 92 

Poorly Nourished 360 

Prescribing for the 223 

Proteid for 239 

Pulse of the 239 

Quality and Quantity of the 

Food of an 319 

Recurring Sickness in an. .386 
Reducing the Food of the 

Sick 206 

Regular Examinations of 

the 303 

Regular Feeding of the. 56, 200 
Requires Physician's Guid- . 

ance 304 

Rickety 21 

Selecting a Nursery for the. 335 

Selecting Diet for 174 

Sickly, Cross 266 

Sickness of the 334 

Size of the 169,311 

Skin of the 19 

Sore Mouth in an 28 

Spleen of the 240 

Starch for the 124 

Stomach of the, 54, 240, 333, 445 
Stools of an. .325, 326, 327, 382 
Successful Feeding of an. .337 

Sugar for the 146 

Suitable Diet for the 

Healthy 143 

Teaching to Nurse Again. .275 

Temperature of the 25 

The Damaged 268 

The Feverish 429 

The Hand-Fed 257 

The Nursing, 248, 257, 262, 

270, 305 

The Sleepless... 201 

The Throat of an 365, 369 

The Tongue of the 211 

The Unnatural 366 

The Vomiting 440, 443 



PAGE. 

Infant, Time to Select Diet 

for an . . : ". 363 

Time to Wean an 263, 264 

Two Classes of 310 

Unsuitable Foods for an 

140, 169 

Unsuitable Clothing for 

an ...303 

Unthrifty 276 

Using Oil on an 280 

Variety Injures a Nursing. .208 
Variety Benefits a Weaned, 208 
Variations in Development 

of an 233,234 

Vegetables for an 140 

Vomiting 444 

Water for 205,312,313 

Weak 155 

Weaning of the, 51, 52, 259, 272 
Weekly Gain in the, 61,249, 

259 338 
Weight of the'. '. '. ' '. 173,' 196, 330 
Weighing Regularly, 259, 

275, 332 

What to Feed an 161 

Who Has Been Poisoned. .411 
Who May Nurse a Sick 

Mother 270,271 

Who Sleep with Mouth 

Open 211 

With Delicate Digestion. . .172 

With Great Thirst 314 

With a Scorbutic Tendency, 140 
With Rheumatic Tenden- 
cies 373 

Wrongly Fed 268 

Yellow Stools of the 39 

Infection and Contagion, the 

Difference Between 417 

Infectious Diseases 417-438 

Nursing Children Who 

Have :.. 418 

Table of 419 

Inheritances .317 

That We Meet in the Sick 

Room 318 

Intestine 241 

Irrigations 357 

How and W T hen to Use 358 

Rectal.... 357 

Itch ...435 

Ivy Poisoning 408, 409 



INDEX. 



603 



J PAGE. 

Jacket Poultice 575 

jaundice .526 

Treatment and Remedies 

for .527 

Jeaunel's General Poison Anti- 
dote = .. 571 

K 

Kidneys 252 

Diseases of 253 

Duties of 252* 

Koumiss 133 

L 

Labor 16 

Length of 16 

Lactated Foods. (See Patent 
Foods.) 

Lamb or Mutton Chop. (See 
Meat.) 

Laxatives 351 

Alkaline Mixture 569 

In Constipation 356 

Injurious Effects of 351 

The Abuse of 459 

The Effects of 459 

When Allowable 462 

Leeches 363 

How to Apply 363 

Leucorrhea 8, 532 

Boric Acid in\ . . 8 

Causes of 532 

Remedies for 532 

Limbs - 10 

Swelling of 10 

Lime Water 74, 565 

Making of 97, 565 

Use of 74, 95 

Literature (purely medical). . .328 
Infantile 328 

Liver 239 

Lungs and Bronchial Tubes.. 369 

Cotton Jacket for 371 

Coughs a Result of Irrita- 
tion in the 369 

Poultices for 371 

Remedies for Diseases of 
the 370 

M 

Malaria 514 

Ointment for 580 



PAGE. 

Malaria, The Effects of 515 

Treatment for 515 

Malnutrition 516 

Causes of 516 

Dangers of 516 

Malt 120, 160 

Destroyed by Cooking 144 

In Food 120 

Marasmus 276 

A Preventative Against 277 

What is ..517 

Massage ... .585 

When and How to 585 

Masturbation 537 

Measles 430 

German 420 

When the Fever is High in, 431 

Meat 128 

Beefsteak or Roast Beef. . .134 

Broths from 149, 565 

Chicken 137 

Cured 149 

Duck 137 

Effects on Milk ....155 

Fat of 149 

Fed after Weaning 468 

Foods 563 

Lamb or Mutton Chop.. . . .134 

Scraped 128,564 

Stools from 129 

Suitable 149 

Time to Feed 134 

Turkey 137 

Veal 135,563 

Young or Old 149 

Meat Diet 150 

Milk and Meat 150 

Perfect Digestion of 150 

When to Feed 150 

Meat Juices 124,563 

Action on the Bowels 126 

Fresh 133 

How Made..... 124 

Proprietary 128 

Medicine Closet 591 

List of Suitable Articles for 
the 591 

Medicines 352 

Suitable for Medicine 

Closet 591 

The Necessity for 352 

The Prescribing of 352 



604 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Meigs', Dr. J. F., Gelatine 
Food 561 

Meningitis 501, 505 

Different Kinds of 501 

Meaning of the Term 501 

Symptoms of 502 

Menstruation 12 

Absence of 12 

Milk 36 

Bacteria in 71 

Cause of Changes in 249 

Changes Wrought by Cook- 
ing of 76,77,81,82, 83 

Colicky 155, 250 

Colostrum ,55 

Condensed 77 

Constituents of 80 

Cow's 64,67,69,132 

Cross 155 

Difference in Proteids in. . . 66 
Difference in Cooked and 

Raw 67 

Elements in 86,348 

Exposing to Air 70 

First 55 

Healthy Human 51,56 

How to Produce Healthy.. 69 

Humanizing Cow's 86 

Increasing of 36 

Jersey 67 

Life in 84 

Mother's 60 

Mother's vs. Cow's 83 

Must be Classed as a Food .207 
One Result of Unhealthy.. .443 

Overdrinking of 93, 94 

Pasteurizing 70 

Peptonized 567 

Poisonous 42 

Poor 316 

Quality of 40 

Raw 80,81, 85 

Sterilizing 71 

Straining and Cooling 70 

Substitutes for 62, 106, 107 

Sugar 91 

To Obtain Good Skim 96 

Tubercle in 71 

Unhealthy Human 57, 157 

Unsuitable 55 

Vessels for 70 

Water in 92 



PAGE. 

Milk, Weak 155 

What is Pure Ill 

Where to Get Pure.. 68, 69, 112 
Milk Foods for Very Delicate 

Infants 562 

Milk Sugar 91 

Difference Between Cane 

and 91 

How Used 96 

PerCent.in Different Milks, 91 
Milk Crust. (See Sore Head.) 
Milliaria. (See Prickly Heat.) 

Minim Graduate 586 

Miscarriage 9 

Moles. (See Birth Marks.) 

Morning Sickness 13 

Mortality 238,454 

Cause of, in Infants 238 

Cause of High Summer 454 

Mother's Marks. (See Birth 

Marks.) 
Mother, Apprehensive ....... 43 

Care of the 198 

Cause of a Cross Infant. . ..267 
Colicky Milk of the. . . . 198, 248 

Common Errors in the 325 

Condition of the 60 

Condition of Milk of the, 57, 249 

Diet of the 35,37,154 

Difference in Treatment of. 36 

Education of the , 31 

Encouragement of the 44 

Exercise of the 45 

First Child of Successful. . . 30 

First Duty of the 249 

First Feeding of the 35 

Foods Necessary for the. . . 45 
How and When She Feeds 

Her Infant, 202 

Ignorance of the 32 

Indigestion in the 46, 155 

Injurious Milk of the.. . .60, 61 

Insufficiency of Milk in 258 

Intelligent and Careful 330 

Judgment of the 338 

Mental Condition of the. 41, 42 

Milk Secretion of the 271 

Mistakes of the 204 

Must Avoid Inherited Ideas,317 
Must Be on the Alert for 

Early Symptoms 341 

Must Be Taught 321, 348 



INDEX. 



605 



PAGE. 

Mother, Must Be Exact in 
Feeding Her Infant.. 215, 230 
Needing Medicinal Treat- 
ment 271 

Nursing a Sick 270 

Obstinate 213 

Overfeeding of the 155 

Overworked 38, 59 

Perfect Digestion in the 31 

Requires Teaching, 31, 328, 449 
Senseless Advice Given to, 199 

Sensible and Cautious 307 

Should Understand the Sick- 
ness 329, 340 

Should Have a Knowledge 

of Resuscitation 405 

Studies of the 32 

Syphilitic 41 

The Nursing 154,259,263 

The Sick 273 

The Unhealthy 59 

The Worried 267 

True Guide for the 29 

Under Medical Treatment.. 40 
Victim of Habits and 

Thoughts 212 

Who Nurses Too Long . . . .323 
Who Nurses Successfullv. .260 
Who Should Not Nurse.'. . .270 

With Unhealthy Milk 248 

Young 29 

Mouth 243 

Duties of the 243 

Wash for 582 

Mumps 423 

Mush Poultice 574 

Mustard Poultice 575 

Mustard Plaster 578 

N 
Nausea 10,13 

Of Pregnancy 10 

Navel 525 

Bleeding from the 525 

Ulceration of the 525 

Nervous Habits 534 

One of the Most Obstinate, 534 
Nettle Rash. (See Hives.) 

Neuralgia 8 

Night Terrors 544 

Nipples 28 

Enlarging the 34 



PAGE. 

Nipples, First Application to 

the 33 

How to Treat the 28, 33 

Kind, Shape and Care of 

the 34,108 

Lotions for the 581 

Pain in the- 33 

Protectors for the 27 

The Slow 167 

The Sore 28 

Nitrogenous Foods, 121, 130, 

148, 563 to 566 

Limits of 148 

Selection of 148 

Suitability of 148 

Nose 397,401 

Bleeding 397 

Lotion for Nose Bleed 583 

Removing Foreign Bodies 
from the 402 

Nurse 17 

Old Fashioned... 17 

Selecting a 18 

Trained 17 

Wet 40-44 

Nursery 335 

Appliances Requisite for 

the 336, 338,351 

Furniture for the 335 

Selecting the 335 

Nursing 37 

At Night 48 

Combined with Feeding 171 

Cot vs. Lap 342 

Diseases that Prohibit 270 

Good 342 

Intervals in 48 

Length of Time for a 260 

Necessity for 85 

Regular and Irregular, 37, 

38, 48,172, 173, 271 

Too Long 323 

Nursing Bottles 108 

Care of 108 

Results of 168 

Shape of 108 

Nutrient Enemata, Pepton- 
ized 568 

Nutrition 32,115 

All the Elements of, 118, 
235, 236,238 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Nutrition, Every Tissue and 
Part Require Separate. . .243 

Imperfect 335,387 

Improper Proportion of the 

Elements of 238 

Laws of 32 

Perfect 115, 340,359 

O 

Oatmeal .....124, 137 

Cooking and Feeding of. . .137 

Jelly 559 

Starch Water. . 559 

CEdema 10 

Oil 25 

Carbolized 581 

Olive 25 

Ointments 579, 581 

Overfeeding ! 156 

Kinds of 156 

Sickness from 156 

Starvation from 156 

Overdosing 351 

Results of 351 

P 

Pains 16 

False 16 

Growing 373 

In Labor 16 

Regular 18 

True 16 

Pancreas 240,566 

Paralysis 503 

From Convulsions ..504 

From Diphtheria 504 

In Syphilitic Children .504 

Parents ..., 308 

Duty of the.... 319 

Must Be Intelligently 

Taught 321 

Should be Guided by the 

Physician's Advice 308 

The Over-vigorous 314 

Pasteurizing 70, 72 

Benefits of 75 

Meaning of 73 

Two Ways of 72 

Patent Foods, 64, 117, 143, 144,146 

Age of 144 

Changes in 146 

Cooking of 144 

Composition of 142 



PAGE. 

Patent Foods, Cream and Fat 

in 144 

Diluting of 142 

Effects of 145,146,214 

Flour in. . . : 144 

Lactated 143 

Make Weak Children 146 

Malted 143,144 

Not Necessary for Healthy 

Child 145 

Proteids in 142 

Starch and Sugar in, 142, 143, 144 
Pepper and Soda Gargle . . . .583 

Pepper Plaster 579 

Peptogenic Milk Powder 567 

Peptonized Beef Tea 567 

Peptonized Egg Enema 569 

Peptonized Foods 566-570 

Peptonized Gruel 568 

Peptonized Milk 567 

Peptonized Milk Mixtures, 

Sterilized 567 

Peptonized Milk Punch 568 

Peptonized Milk Toast 568 

Peptonized Oysters 567 

Perspiring Powder — Tannic^ 
Acid and Zinc Powder. . .584 

Physicians 14,230 

Articles for 14 

Bills of 229 

Duty of the...: 310 

Important Part of the Work 

of 317 

Needs Perfect Details of the 

Sickness 339,341,345 

Prescribing for Infants, 223, 

352 

Responsibilities of the 304 

Should Educate Mothers.. .330 
Should Be Consulted Regu- 
larly 304 

When to Call a ...321 

Piles 7 

Ointment for 580 

Pink Powder for Colds 571 

Pleurisy. (See Pneumonia.) 

Pneumonia 550 

Broncho- 551 

Characteristic Symptoms of.551 

Cold Drinks for 552 

Fresh Air a Necessity in. . .551 
Hot Baths in 551 



INDEX. 



607 



PAGE, 

Pneumonia, Plenty of Room 

for 551 

Pleuro- 552 

Severe Cases of 551 

With Whooping Cough. . . .552 

Poisons 409 

Antidote for 411, 412 

For Medicine Closet 591 

How to Keep 409 

Jeaunel's General Antidote 

' for 571 

Marking Bottles Contain- 
ing 410, 592 

Table of, Antidotes and 

Treatment 412, 413 

Treatment for 410, 412 

Poliomyelitis. (See Paralysis.) 

Potatoes '...139 

As Heat Producers 139 

How to Feed 139 

Most Digestible 139 

Poultices and Plasters . .573-580 

Powders .584 

Predigestion 105 

Remedies for 105 

Pregnancy 5 

Cathartics in 9 

Length of 15 

Nausea of 10 

Signs of 12 

Suspicious of . ., 13 

Unnecessary Suffering and 
Distress During 6 

Premature Birth 500 

Diet in 501 

Necessities in Cases of 500 

Prickly Heat 488 

Prolapse of the Bowel 523 

Dietary in 524 

Meaning of 523 

Medicines for 524 

Treatment for 524 

Proportionate Dosage 590 

The Importance of 590 

Proteid '62, 89 

Amount Needed of, 90,237,239 
Composition and Quality of, 66 

Difficult Digestion of 65 

Excess of 64, 346 

In Cow's Milk 116 

In Cream 90,116 

In Foods ...117 



PAGE. 

Proteid, In Human Milk. .96, 117 

In Meat Juices 125 

Puerperal Fever 11 

Pulse 239 

Q 

Quickening 10 

R 

Rectum 358 

Hot Saline Injections in. . ..358 

Ice for the 358 

Irrigations for the 357 

Red Gum 487 

Remedies 558-593 

Remedies for Internal 

Use 569-572 

Respirations 239 

Rest 343 

Necessity for Plenty of 343 

What is 344 

Rheumatism 508 

Drinks for 509 

Necessity for Early Treat- 
ment in 508 

St. Vitus' Dance a Result of, 509 

Rice 124,138 

In Diarrhea 124 

Starch Water .559 

Waters 560 

With Cream 563 

With Cream and Whey. . . .563 

With Whey 563 

Rickets 528 

Causes of 528 

Character of Stools in 530 

Character of Urine in 530 

Treatment for 532 

Ringworm 436 

Appearance of a Child Who 

Has 436 

Ointments for 580 

Rotheln. (See German Measles.) 
Roughness. (See Chafing.) 
Rubeola. (See German Measles.) 
Running Ears. (See Earache.) 

Rupture 542 

Cause of 542 

Cause and Cure for Navel.. 543 

Operation for 543 

Truss for 542 



608 



INDEX. 



S PAGE. 

St. Vitus' Dance. (See Rheu- 
matism.) 

Saline Aperient 569 

Saline Solution 582 

Salts 92 

Infant's Need of.... 237 

Mineral 92 

Scabies. (See Itch.) 
Scarlatina. (See Scarlet Fever.) 

Scarlet Fever 426 

Greatest Danger in 428 

Sore Throat in 426, 428 

Scorbutus. (See Scurvy.) 

Scrofula 510 

Causes of 511 

Scurvy 527 

Causes of 527 

Only Cure for 528 

Self- Abuse. (See Masturbation ) 

Sepsis 12 

Dangers of 12 

Sickness 334 

Age Materially Alters Char- 
acter of the 334 

Causes of Recurring 386 

Sick-Room 320 

Subjects to be Avoided in 

the 320 

Skin 26 

Irritation of the 279 

Oil for the 280 

The Tender 26 

Treatment of 26 

Use of Soap on Tender. . ..280 
Skin Diseases and Deform- 
ities 482 to 500 

Skin Lotion 583 

Sleep 344 

Necessity for Plenty of 344 

Sleeplessness ..545 

Causes of 545 

Help for 546 

Slippery Elm Poultice 574 

Smallpox 419 

Snoring— Mouth Breathing.. .396 

Soda... 95 

In Milk 95 

Soda Mint 569 

Solutions and Mixtures. .581-585 

Sore Head 494 

Diet in 495 

Treatment for 495 



PAGE. 

Sore Mouth 438 

Powders for 569 

Spasms. (See Convulsions.) 

Spice Poultice 577 

Spinal Curvatures 496 

Spinal Disease. (See Diseased 

Bones.) 
Spinal Meningitis. (See Men- 
ingitis.) 

Spleen 240 

Spoons 170 

As Measures 170, 588 

Tea and Table 588 

Sprains 395 

Squint Eye 553 

Starch 101,141 

Changes in 119 

Cooking of 119 

Envelopes of 151 

For Infants 124 

In Indigestion 151 

In Vegetables. 153 

Jellies 101, 122,160 

Most Digestible 141 

Most Suitable Diet of 152 

Other Forms of ? . . 141 

Tropical 141 

Uses of 119 

Waters 101,122,160,559 

When to Feed 161 

Starchy Foods 137-141 

Amounts in Cereals, Breads 

and Flour 152 

Cooking of 151 

Digestibility of 151 

Effects of 152 

Kinds of 152 

Starch Poultice 575 

Sterilizing 71 

Arnold Sterilizer 73 

Benefits of 75 

Sterilization vs. Pasteuriza- 
tion... 74 

Stomach 54,158,439 

Amount of Food in the 158 

Age of 158 

Capacity of the 54 

Digestive Power of the 166 

Dilated 164 

Duties of the 244 

Irritation of the 158 



INDEX. 



609 



PAGE. 

Stomach, Kind of Food in 

the..,., 158 

Powders for Foul or Sour. .570 

Size of the 54, 164, 165,240 

Size Variations in the 165 

Strength of the 158 

The Abused 269 

The Damaged 445 

The Injured 333 

The Infant's 54 

The Weak 158 

Overfeeding the 166 

Rash 488 

VomitingaSymptom of Irri- 
tation in the 440 

Stomatitis. (See Sore Mouth.) 

Stools 9,160,229 

A Proof of Correct Diet, 174, 242 

Analysis of Unhealthy 382 

Cause of Bloody 384 

Cause of Brownish 385 

Cause of Dry, Hard .385 

Cause of Food in 206 

Cause of Gray Colored 384 

Cause of Green 325, 382 

Cause of Loose, Fatty 384 

Cause of Lumpy 385 

Cause of Pasty, Mixed Col- 
ored 383 

Cause of Slimy 383 

Cause of Watery 383, 448 

Color of the.... 156,157 

Correct 197,447 

Cure forSlimy and Mucous. .327 

Food in the 155,205 

For Perfect Success 174 

Foul 150,155 

From Broths 129 

From Meats 62, 129, 150 

From Milks 175 

From Good Foods 113 

Green and Watery. . . 163, 349 
How to Obtain the Proper. .175 

How to Read the 386 

Imperfect 200 

Mucous ...326 

Number of ] 56 

Of Hand-Fed Infant 158 

Of Healthy Fed Infant, 57, 

99, 174 

Of Infants 39 

Of Pregnant Woman 9 

39 



PAGE. 

Stools, Of Unhealthy Infant, 

58, 175,227 

Perfect 200,242 

Powders for Slimy 570 

Show Errors in Food 262 

Size of the 163 

The Slimy 326 

The Successful 258 

The Unhealthy. . 58, 175, 227, 449 

Too Loose or Too Solid 63 

Strabismus. (See Squint Eye.) 
Strophulus. (See Red Gum.) 

Styes 552 

Averting 553 

Causes of 553 

Sugar 80 

Amount Nature Feeds of.. 146 

Cane 91 

Infant's Need of 237 

Milk 91 

Substitute Foods in Place of 
Milk or Proprietary Foods 
for Infants with Damaged 

Digestive Organs 565 

Sucking the Finger 534 

Remedies for 534 

Results of 534 

Sunburn 492 

Suppositories 355 

How and When to Use. . . 355 

Medicated 357 

Swallowing Foreign Bodies. .404 

Symptoms 376 

Of Constipation 379 

Of Coughs 381 

Of Crying 378 

Of Delirium 377 

Of Drooling 381 

Of Fever ..376 

Of Foul Breath 380 

Of Frequent Urinating 380 

Of Headache 378 

Of Nervousness 380 

Of Perspirations 381 

Of Pulse 377 

Of Respirations 377 

Of Starting in Sleep 381 

Of Slow Teething 381 

Of Stools 380 

Of Vomiting 379 

Of Wakefulness 380 

Their Values 376 



610 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Syphilis. 9 

Syringes 8 

For the Nose 402 

For the Ear 22,402 

For Enema 22 

Fountain 8 

The Hard Nozzle 22 

The Hard Rubber 23 

T 

Table of Poisons, Antidotes 
and Treatment 412, 413 

Tannic Acid and Glycerine 
Nipple Lotion 581 

Teeth 8 

Decay of 8 

Dental Operations on 8 

First 246 

Permanent 247 

Teething 245 

False Ideas of 251 

Its Constitutional Effects . .250 

Order of 245 

Proper Time to Commence..246 
Should Not Cause Sick- 
ness 247,251 

So-Called Troubles of 252 

Temper 14 

Irritability of 14 

Temperature 24, 338 

Necessity for a High 338 

Of Baths 279 

Thermometer 25 

Throat , 365 

Diseases of the 368 

Gargle for Sore . . 572 

How to Examine the 368 

Necessity for Careful Watch- 
ing for Sore 365,368 

Of the Infant 368 

Removing Foreign Bodies 

from the 404 

Swabbing the 369 

White Spots in the 369 

Thrush. (See Sore Mouth.) 

Toast Water 560 

Tongue 211 

Coated 211 

Of the Infant 211 

Tongue Tie 499 

Tonsils 540 

Causes of Enlarged 541 



PAGE. 

Tonsils, Immediate Attention 

Necessary for 541 

Remedies for 541 

Tooth Rash. (See Stomach 
Rash.) 

Toxemia 479 

Causes of ,...479,480 

Treatment for 481 

What is 479 

Treatment 335 

Common Sense 345 

Home Infantile 335 

Tubercle. (See Unhealthy 
Mucous Membrane.) 

Tubercular Meningitis 502 

Symptoms of , . .503 

Treatment for 503 

Turkey. (See Meat.) 

Turpentine Stupe 577 

Typhoid Fever 432 

U 

Unhealthy Mucous Mem- 
brane 553 

Urine 254 

Amount of \ 254 

Giving Proper Attention to 

254, 255 

Remedy for Scalding or 

Painful 573 

Retention of 520 

Unhealthy 327 

Urination 7 

Frequent 7 

Painful 7,520 

Too Frequent 327 

Uterus 7 

The Gravid 7 

Urticaria or Nettle Rash. (See 
Hives.) 

V 

Vaccination 421 

Where to Vaccinate Girls. .422 
Vaccinia, (See Vaccination.) 
Varicella. (See Chicken-pox ) 
Varioloid. (See Smallpox.) 

Veal 135 

Tea 563 

Vegetables 140 

Coarse and Unsuitable Vari- 
eties 140 



INDEX. 



611 



PAGE. 

Vegetables, When to Feed... 140 

Veins. 10 

Varicose •• 10 

Vomiting 440 

Causes of 440 

Cause of Habitual 444, 445 

Cold Drinks Perpetuate . . .441 

In Hand-Fed Children 443 

In Nursing Children 442 

Unhealthy Milk Causes 443 

Unsuitable Food Causes . ..444 

W 

Warts 486 

Watchfulness 341 

General 341 

Water 18 

Effect of Too Much 313 

For Infants' Drinking. . .93, 94 

For Sick Infant 313 

Infants' Safeguard 204 

Lime 97 

Restrictions in Drinking. . .313 

Rupture of 18 

Starch 101,559 

Weaning 174 

Demand for 268 

During Sickness , . .264 

Forced ....272 

Must be Perfected in the 

Daytime 262 

Necessity for 174 

Necessities in 261 

Requisites for Successful . .263 

Time of Year for 260, 263 

Time of Year to Avoid 263 

When to Wean, 174,248,259, 

260,263,274 

When Completed 262 

Weighing 268 

Importance of 275 

Regular 268 

Wet and Excoriated Surfaces, 493 
Causes of 493 



PAGE. 

Wet and Excoriated Surfaces, 

Treatment for 493 

Wet Nurses 40, 44 

As Servants 50 

Having Poor Milk 208 

Infants of 50, 51 

Necessity for, 60, 61, 272, 

273, 274 

Substitutes for 62 

Wheat 137 

Whey 107,561 

AsaFood 107 

As a Substitute Food 565 

The Preparing of 107 

With Cream 561 

With Cream and Rice 563 

With Wine 561 

With Starches 133 

Whey and Its Mixtures. .561-564 

Whooping Cough 424 

Woman 5,39 

Advice for Pregnant 6 

Pregnant 5 

Warped and Twisted Mind, 6 
Who Should Not Nurse . . 39, 41 

Young 5 

Wounds 389 

Bleeding 390 

Cuts and Torn 389 

Dirty 390 

From Bites of Animals 392 

Plasters for 390 

Poisoned 390 

Punctured 393 

Which Gape 390 

Worms 476 

Cause of 476 

Injection for Seat 572 

Powders for 572 

Symptoms of 476 

The Tape 477 

The Thread 477 

Z 

Zinc Ointment 579 



Apr-ai©01 ^ 



MAR 1 1901 



